Eyes of the Beholder
by Kat Morning
Summary: A minor intervention switches Hinata to Team Seven. This would be the sound of a butterfly flapping its wings.
1. Shuffle

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto _is property of Shonen Jump, Kishimoto Masashi, and various other people and entities. I'm about five stories beyond this one, and at the point I'm writing, Sasuke is grateful for that.

* * *

**Shuffle**

"With Uzumaki Naruto's graduation, we have enough students to split all the genin hopefuls into three-man cells," the Hokage told the loose ring of shinobi surrounding his desk. "I'll be assigning each of you teams that you will meet tomorrow."

Iruka, who stood with a stack of papers beside the Hokage, hastened to put the papers in his hands on the desk beside the Sandaime. The old man nodded his appreciation and pulled the first of them off the stack, before sliding the one on the very bottom out from under the others and placing them together. "This year's best student, Uchiha Sasuke, will be assigned with the year's worst student … Uzumaki Naruto. Kakashi, I believe you would be best suited to head up the Uchiha's team, as we can be hopeful he will fulfill the village's expectations in awakening the Sharingan."

Kakashi, leaning comfortably against the far wall glanced over the edge of his book and nodded in acknowledgment before returning his attention to his book. The Third smiled tolerantly, and pulled a third paper from the center of the stack, placing it with the two already assigned to Kakashi. "And to balance out the team, we'll add Haruno Sakura. The three of them should do well together."

"Assuming she manages to concentrate on anything _but_ Sasuke," Iruka sighed, rubbing ruefully at the back of his neck as the Hokage turned slightly, quirked an eyebrow at him and gestured for the Academy teacher to continue. Iruka fidgeted for a moment under the scrutiny before taking a deep breath and explaining: "Sakura is a very intelligent girl, Hokage-sama, but she concentrates more on being a girl than on being a kunoichi at times."

"Mm," Sandaime chewed thoughtfully on the end of his pipe, clasping his hands behind his back. "And yet, her theory scores are exceptional. She could prove to be a great asset to the village yet." He unclasped his hands and leaned forward, placing them on his desk and picking up Haruno Sakura's report sheet. "Perhaps we should match the student to the teacher, then. Kurenai," he said, placing the girl's sheet with another stack and rifling through it until he extracted one of the other reports. Kurenai straightened slightly as her name was called, dark eyes watching the Hokage curiously. "I think Haruno-san would benefit from the example of another kunoichi, and an environment that is less … distracting. She will be added to Team Eight, which I'm giving to you."

Kurenai nodded and stepped back to leave the unassigned jounin standing in a loose ring around the Third, who placed the report sheet he had removed from Team Eight to the two still resting in Team Seven. "It's settled then," the old man nodded. "Kakashi, you will take charge of Team Seven: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuuga Hinata."

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**Kat's Notes:** You might see where this is going already ... I honestly love the original Team Seven dynamic, but this seemed like a fun vein to explore. This whole started as extrapolation during an IM conversation where I started going "but what if ...". Then, rather like conversations that start that way always do, the muses grabbed it and ran off with me scrambling to keep up. And the inevitable egging on of friends who wanted to see it actually written.

So I thought, "oh I'll just write out one quick drabble and get it out of my system". One has somehow turned into six ... with the possibility of others if I get requests. This one ended up epically short, though still not the drabble I was initially planning, and is the shortest of the lot.

**Up Next:** Disapproval - Not everyone is okay with this arrangement


	2. Disapproval

**Disclaimer:** _Naruto _is property of Shonen Jump, Kishimoto Masashi, and various other people and entities. On to story two! Yes, these are written as one-shots instead of proper sequential chapters. I'm experimenting with different ways to tell a story.

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.:** Disapproval** :.**  
**

"They have passed Hatake's ridiculous bell test, and I am concerned about my daughter's involvement with that team," Hiashi said stiffly, voice measured and unemotional despite the clear complaint he was bringing to the Hokage's ear. The Hokage's office was well lit despite the late hour and the Hokage himself stood comfortably beside his desk, a wisp of gray smoke curling up from the bowl of the pipe held between his fingers.

"And would that concern be for her jounin sensei, or her teammates?" Sarutobi asked, turning and crossing to the window of his office to look out over the sleeping village. "I have my reasons for this decision, Hiashi, and perhaps hearing them will set your mind at ease." Sarutobi took a breath from his pipe, exhaling it through his nose in a stream of grey smoke before continuing. "Uchiha Sasuke was assigned to Kakashi because there is no one else in the village to train the boy in the use of the Sharingan, should he awaken it. You know this, and I have heard no dissent or disagreement that Kakashi is the most suited to train the boy."

The Hyuuga clan head nodded, pale eyes watching the leader of the village impartially. The _Uchiha's_ suitability was not in question – though Hiashi remembered the Uchiha clan well, what he had seen of the lone survivor of the clan's massacre had yet to impress him in ability.

The Third was watching Hiashi's stance and face carefully, keen to catch any external cues to what the Hyuuga was thinking as he continued, "Even without the Sharingan, Sasuke will likely become the Uchiha patriarch and clan head eventually, and will revive his clan; Kakashi has already reported that is one of the boy's goals in life. Considering that clan's traditional enmity towards the Hyuuga, I felt it would be beneficial to the village if the clan was revived with better feelings, and perhaps even a bond beyond serving the same village. Placing your daughter on his team is simplest way to achieve that future bond, as they will likely grow loyal to one another if not friends. There is also the consideration that placing wielders of the two most powerful doujutsu bloodlines in the village under the instruction of a jounin of Kakashi's skill and experience who also has a mastered doujutsu of his own."

"As you say, Hokage-sama," Hiashi said, inclining his head to acknowledge the other man's reasoning. "It is wise to have both the Uchiha and Hinata in such specialized training. However, there is the matter of the other … teammate." Hiashi would have wrinkled his nose in distaste if such an outward display of emotion was not utterly beneath him. "Uzumaki Naruto is an infamous disruption to the peace of Konoha, and undoubtedly will be an undesirable influence on both of his teammates. Your ideals of loyalty and friendship also extend there. There is also the chance he will again become a threat to the village, putting both bloodlines at unnecessary risk."

"The boy is not the Kyuubi, Hiashi," the Hokage said sternly, turning from the window to turn a piercing look on the Hyuuga clan head. "He is the Kyuubi's _jailer_. Have some confidence in the Fourth's skill and the seal placed on that child. As for being a disruption in the village … pranks do not make a child evil. I have every confidence that Naruto will prove himself a fine shinobi in the service of the village."

The Hokage drew a deep breath and moved back to his desk, settling into the chair and tapping the ashes in his pipe out in a shallow dish that lay beside him. "Your concerns for your daughter are noted, especially as Hinata has been targeted before by enemy nin. I still cannot think of a better jounin than Hatake Kakashi to be looking after both Hinata's well-being _and_ for any problems that may arise from the Fourth's sacrifice - other than taking on a new team for myself, of course." He smiled ruefully and gestured at the neat piles of paper taking up a good portion of the desk's surface. "However, I'm afraid any team of genin I took on would be trained to sort paperwork and retrieve documents for me to sign more than they would be trained in the ninja arts."

Hiashi considered the Hokage's words for a long moment before finally nodding once, his pale eyes closing briefly. The Hokage's reasoning was sound, leaving the Hyuuga with no option but to set in place his own safeguards for the honor of his clan. "It is as you say, Hokage-sama. If the Kyuubi host must be given the chance to become a shinobi of this village, then Hatake Kakashi is the best to watch him, and the best to instruct both my daughter and the Uchiha."

Sarutobi favored the younger man with a pleased smile, teeth biting absently into the stem of his pipe. "As for Naruto," he said, "Consider giving the boy a chance to prove himself to you. He is often doing the unexpected, and I don't doubt you will find yourself surprised."

"I will … consider it, Hokage-sama," Hiashi said, turning to go. "Though I do not expect to be pleasantly surprised by such a chance, I will consider it."

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**Kat's Notes:** This is the last story that's missing the people you're probably here to see, but it needed to be said. I just can't see Hiashi being totally okay with any Hyuuga on a team with Naruto, the village pariah. And it's one thing if they were and assigned to Kakashi, since Kakashi doesn't pass _anyone_. So the lack of main characters and the ridiculous shortness of these first two is why I'm putting them up so fast. I'll put the next one up in a few more days.

**Next up: **"Friendship" - The course of stalki... um ... true love, is not intimidated by something like team boundaries.


	3. Friendship

Finally, I bring in the people you're expecting to see! There's something resembling Naruto/Hinata even! Maybe. If you squint. No Sakura/Sasuke yet, though. Seriously, I think she's going to have to swing a tree at him before he notices her.

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.: **Friendship **:.

Hinata was the first to notice their visitor, but not the first to remark upon it. Her Byakugan allowed her to see almost perfectly around her, and she had it activated as Kakashi-sensei set the three of them to retrieving a nut he had marked with his kunai and hidden in the forest with himself as guard. An exercise in infiltration and retrieval he called it, but Hinata thought it was quickly becoming an exercise in frustration and one-uppmanship. Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun simply did not like working together, and neither alone could slip past Kakashi-sensei.

Kakashi himself was perched on a tree branch, leaning against the trunk with the vivid orange of Icha Icha Paradise held in front of his nose, making him easy to spot even for the two genin without the ability to see through leaves. The marked nut balanced on the spine of his book, not even wobbling when he turned a page as he waited for his team.

Hinata squelched a jolt of panic as Naruto landed next to her in the tree she stood in, clinging to consciousness by firmly reminding herself that if he didn't notice her faint, she was likely to break her neck falling out of the tree – and him catching her would be arguably _more _mortifying.

Hinata settled for drawing in a deep breath and looking away from Naruto – though with her Byakugan activated even that did not help much. "Hinata-chan," he whispered, still not keeping his voice soft enough Kakashi _wouldn't_ hear him. "How much further?"

"Ka … Kakashi-sensei is about seventy-five meters ahead of us," she answered, almost inaudibly, and hoping she had made as much progress in conquering her inevitable affected blush around her teammate as she had in not fainting when he spoke to her. "Sasuke-kun is a… about sixty meters beyond that."

Naruto growled under his breath, and Hinata felt her cheeks flush with embarrassed warmth at his language. "Teme! Don't you dare think you're going to get that nut before I do!" He flashed Hinata quick grin before crouching. "Thanks, Hinata-chan!"

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun," she whispered after him. A moment later, Hinata flickered out of sight as well, moving closer to their seemingly-lackadaisical sensei.

Of the three of them, she had the smallest chance of winning the game by retrieving the marked nut Kakashi guarded. Hinata had no illusions about her own ability, especially when any stealthy attack was out of the question with her teammates' more aggressive combat preferences in play. She simply wasn't as strong as Naruto-kun, as fast as Sasuke-kun, or as … well _anything_ as Kakashi-sensei. Sometimes she wasn't sure why they included her on these training exercises beyond the fact she was assigned to the team and they had to.

Up ahead, Hinata saw Sasuke and Naruto reach Kakashi and nearly collide with one another when their sensei stepped off the branch he had been perched on and dropped towards the ground. Hinata bit her lip and darted forward, pushing chakra to her eyes and fingertips as an explosion of angry and accusatory shouts sounded between the two boys.

Kakashi landed easily on the ground and turned a page. Hinata forced herself through the final screen of leaves, blocking out everything but the desire to help her teammates, and follow the instructions of her teacher.

Kakashi contorted his body, landing solidly on one hand and levering himself into a handstand, evading Hinata's juuken strike and placing himself just out of her reach without taking his eyes from the pages of his book.

Behind her, Hinata caught a gleam of triumph brighten Sasuke's eyes and she ducked, a strangled squeak coming from her as flames raced over the previously-hidden wires, bearing down on Kakashi. The jounin looked up and slid his book into the weapon's pouch at his hip before forming a seal and drenching the area in a swirling vortex of water that erupted around his feet before surging outward. Naruto yelped as the water slammed into him, and Sasuke's eyes widened fractionally an instant before he jumped to an upper branch to safety.

A gurgled shout from Naruto brought both Hinata and Sasuke's attention to see a claw of mud blossom around the boy before crashing down onto him, and pulling him underground. Hinata gasped and struggled to her feet, ignoring the drag of her sodden jacket or the mud sliding beneath her feet and pushing itself between her toes. Sasuke tensed and shifted his weight to drop from the branch and join her as Kakashi flickered into existence in front of him, and calmly pushed the younger boy out of the tree. Near-invisible wires strung between the trees caught Sasuke before he righted himself, tangling up his limbs as they wrapped around them, and left him dangling awkwardly several meters above the ground.

Hinata felt something tap her on the crown of her head, and shook whatever it was out of her hair. The marked nut rolled in front of her eyes and dropped to the ground. Hinata sighed softly under her breath and reached out to pick it up, somewhat surprised when it didn't explode into smoke in her fingers.

"Well, it looks like Hinata-chan has the nut," Kakashi said, pulling his book back out of his weapon's pouch and leafing through it to reclaim his place. "Good job, team."

Though she couldn't hear any mocking in her sensei's lazy tone, Hinata colored in embarrassment anyway. Then her eyes widened and she stiffened slightly. "Naruto-kun!"

"Oh, right." Kakashi stomped the ground in front of him, and Naruto erupted out of it a short distance away, swearing and gasping, and thoroughly caked in mud.

Hinata found herself torn between rushing to Naruto's side and hanging back in embarrassed shyness, ending up with an ungainly, mostly-Naruto-ward, stagger that sputtered out before she even reached him. Naruto ignored her in favor of stomping past to yell at Kakashi for burying him alive.

Sasuke remained silent, and glared as he worked on getting a weapon into his hand to saw at the wires holding him suspended like a marionette. He looked like he wanted to snarl curses at their sensei, but wasn't about to join sides with Naruto to do it.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, finally winding down enough to start picking torn leaves and broken twigs out of his hair and off his clothes and brush futilely at the mud streaking everything. "What are we doing next?"

"Well, I think that's enough for this morning," Kakashi told his team - though it was well into afternoon by this time - his visible eye crinkling up into a half-moon smile. "Tomorrow? More D-ranked missions! You three need to work on your teamwork."

"The dobe needs to work on staying out of the way," Sasuke grumped, slicing through the final wire and dangling free with one hand before dropping gracefully to the ground.

"You ran into me, Teme!" Naruto bristled, step belligerently forward to confront his more impassive teammate. "So why are you saying _I_ need to stay out of the way?"

Sasuke scoffed imperiously and Hinata fought down a sigh, feeling only a slight pang of guilt as she tuned out the squabbling and shifted her attention towards the girl that still stood watching the debacle playing out in front of her. Hinata jerked back as Naruto brushed past her, face warming even if he didn't turn to look at her, and blinked as he stilled, catching sight of their visitor as well.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted, waving madly at Sakura as she straightened away from the bridge railing she was leaning against and started walking hesitantly towards them, self-consciously tucking an escaped strand of pink hair behind her ear.

Naruto jogged forward to meet her, a bright grin on his face, not noticing when Hinata trailed up behind Naruto, her pale eyes curious with the final member of Team Seven several steps in her wake, looking indifferent.

Sakura flushed as she looked down with her hands clamped nervously behind her back.

"Did you come to see me, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked hopefully, bringing her attention up with a snap. "We just finished training," he continued brightly, "so you and I could go and have lunch together! Like a date?"

Sakura's nose wrinkled in distaste and she reeled back a step. "Absolutely no, Naruto," she scoffed, turning away from him. "I was just on my way home. Kurenai-san dismissed us early for the day since Kiba and Shino needed to spend time training with their clans."

"Really?" Naruto rubbed ruefully at the back of his head, ruffling up his spiky blond hair. "When Kakashi-sensei does that, we just figure he's being kinda lazy."

A flush of embarrassed warmth spread across Hinata's face and she chanced an uncertain glance back to find that the shinobi in question had vanished the moment his kids' backs were turned.

Sakura frowned at him, eyes hardening warningly and folded her arms, fingers of one hand tapping against the opposite arm. "Kurenai-sensei is not lazy."

"Didn't say she was!" Naruto yelped, eyes widening as he recognized the danger signs of an imminent beat-down. "Erk!"

"Ah, Sakura-san ..." Hinata started, stepping forward hesitantly. "I'm sure Naruto-kun didn't mean to insult your team."

Sakura threw her hair back with a toss of her head and huffed in annoyance. "He can say whatever he wants about the knuckleheads on my team," she said archly. "But not about Kurenai-sensei."

"Since she gave you the afternoon off to brush your hair," Sasuke snorted.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura started, just short of a hurt whimper, flushing as she looked down with her hands tightening across her chest.

"Teme!" Naruto growled, whirling on Sasuke and balling his fists. "Be nice to Sakura-chan!"

Hinata's eyes widened in distress and she half-lifted a hand, looking like she very much wanted to stop the argument before it started in earnest.

"Whatever, dobe," Sasuke said, stopping short of rolling his eyes. "You should be with your team," he informed Sakura. "And let other teams train."

"You're not training now," Sakura defended. "And..." she looked uncertainly from Sasuke to his curious teammates, choking back what she had been about to say. Sasuke's words stung, and part of her wanted to throw them right back at him. She visibly floundered for a moment before drawing herself straight and stepping to Hinata's side. "Maybe I'm here to see Hinata, Sasuke-kun. Maybe ... maybe you're only here because you're her teammate."

Sasuke snorted derisively, a smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth, and turned away - every inch of his bearing looking self-satisfied and smug as he walked away from her.

Sakura watched the retreating form of the red and white fan emblazoned across Sasuke's back for a long moment before gasping softly. A look of horror fell over Sakura's face, here eyes widening and her mouth opening as she realized she had just _snapped _at _Sasuke_. Whispering a curse to her temper, Sakura stumbled forward a step, reaching out a hand desperately and calling, "W...wait! Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke paused long enough to look over his shoulder and raise an eyebrow at her. "Aren't you here for Hinata?" he asked pointedly. Sakura's mouth worked soundlessly and she flushed as her head dropped forward.

"Sa...Sasuke-kun?" Hinata questioned, brow wrinkling in confusion even as her teammate turned away again.

"Oi!" Naruto shouted, casting a confused look at the girls before stumbling after Sasuke. "Teme! Wait up! What was that all about?! Leave Sakura-chan alone!"

Sakura remained rooted, head lifting as Naruto started shouting, and eyes widening as Sasuke left, vanishing off the training field abruptly and followed a heartbeat later by a growling Naruto.

"Oh what have I _done_?!" Sakura looked anguished and clutched at her hair with both hands, looking ready to scream at the universe. "I ... I just _snapped_ at Sasuke-kun! he'll never want to talk to me now, and we'll never fall in love, and ... and ... He'll never ask me to marry him now! All because I couldn't keep my temper locked own for ten minutes!"

"Um … Sakura-san?" Hinata started hesitantly, taking a step forward towards the other girl.

"And now he'll think I'm unfeminine as well as ugly and … and … he probably doesn't even _like_ long hair!"

Hinata's hand on her shoulder broke Sakura out of her wailing, shifting her attention to the other girl, who offered her a gentle smile. Hinata's hand lifted off of Sakura as she retreated a step, and bowed slightly.

"I made enough for two," she offered quietly, gesturing towards the pack that rested at the other end of the field, resting beneath a tree out of the line of fire. "You were on your way home for lunch, weren't you? Most genin teams share the midday meal, but mine is …" Hinata half-turned towards where the boys had vanished and pushed her fingers together nervously, "um … gone. You could share it with me if you wish?"

Sakura blinked, panic clearing away and Hinata took the opportunity to lead the way back to where the lunches were packed. Sakura trailed along after her, her steps swishing through the tall grass of the field, and Hinata allowed herself a smile.

She had been hoping to invite Naruto-kun to share lunch with her, but Sakura, she suspected, needed the companionship more. Not that she was a very good companion, she thought, but possibly she would be better than nothing at all.

Hinata dropped comfortably to her knees and worked the knot free of the handkerchief she had tied around two boxes. She handed the first to Sakura, who had sat beside her, pulled her knees to her chest, and was resting her chin against them. She accepted the box with a soft thank you, but set it aside and clasped her hands in front of her. Hinata opened her own lunch and started eating, letting the silence between them stretch and become uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," Sakura finally blurted out, hands tightening against her wrists and drawing herself into a tighter ball. She swallowed heavily before she continued. "You … you don't have to be nice to me, Hinata-san. I was … using you to … to get closer to Sasuke-kun. And I shouldn't have."

"Sakura-san," Hinata gave her an understanding smile, setting her own meal aside and reaching out to touch the other kunoichi gently on the shoulder. "You weren't u… using me. Sasuke-kun w…was being spiteful, a…and you were just standing up for yourself." Sakura hid her face in her knees with a muffled groan of misery at the reminder and Hinata sighed slightly. "Also," Hinata continued. "I ... I understand what it's like to.... admire someone who does not seem to notice you."

Sakura lifted her face away from her knees and opened her mouth to deny the charge, to insist that Sasuke-kun did notice her, but instead she followed Hinata's gaze to where the boys had walked away from them, and Sakura deflated. "We're a pair of idiots, Hinata-chan," Sakura shook her head ruefully, loosening her grip on her legs and curling them more comfortably beside her. "But between us, I think you might have the better chance. At least you're on his team."

"I do not find that helps very much," Hinata admitted sadly.

Sakura quieted, feeling a sliver of guilt that Naruto had – once again – asked her out, and that he had done it in front of Hinata. "At least you're not fainting anymore," she offered. "I remember when you used to pass out every time Naruto talked to you."

Hinata's cheeks colored and she shook her head. "He … he carried me home the first two days and we couldn't train as a team. Then I decided that if I was going to be Naruto-kun's teammate, I would do my best to not be a burden to him."

"So you're getting used to him." The image coaxed a full smile from Sakura and she picked up her lunch and ate the first bite contemplatively. It was several minutes before she finally worked up the courage to speak again. "Hinata-chan, do you mind if I visit you?"

Hinata paused and her face fell slightly, but she smiled. "You mean visit Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura answered with a shake of her head. "I love Sasuke-kun, but I won't use you to win him. I _am _sorry about that, and feel like I should make it up to you somehow, but mostly I think I'd just like to visit a friend. Sasuke or no Sasuke."

Hinata's pale eyes widened a bit at the honest declaration, then a soft smile stole across her lips. "I would like that."

"Besides, you're stuck training with three guys all the time," Sakura wrinkled her nose at this, projecting her experiences with Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino. "Though I'm sure Sasuke-kun knows what a shower is, I'm betting Naruto balances him out."

"Sakura-san!" Hinata smothered a laugh and shook her head. "Naruto-kun … only forgets … sometimes."

"That's sometimes too much," Sakura said, nodding firmly.

"It's truly not that bad."

Sakura gave her a measuring look, the edges of her lips lifted in a tiny smile. "Right. I'm going to remember that for your wedding."

Hinata paled, before blushing bright red and stuttering out a denial, breaking off only when Sakura lost her composure and began to giggle. "Sakura-chan!" Hinata protested, still blushing. Sakura beamed unrepentantly at her and earned a resigned huff from the flustered Hinata before both turned back to their lunches and safer topics of conversation.

* * *

**Kat's Notes:**

There's possibly some OOC warnings for this, as I did change a few things. Kakashi's actually teaching his team, rather than just pitting the boys against one another and knocking off to read. Also, at this point he has them completely outclassed, and it's going to stay that way until the kids can work their way up to his level. Chalk that up to Hinata's presence if you'd like, as the team would be under more scrutiny from the Hyuuga if no one else. Mostly it's my dislike of dumbing down Kakashi to make Naruto and/or Sasuke look better. That always seemed like a disservice to the characters to me. And I like humiliating the boys. You'll see me do that a lot.

Also, I had the hardest time picking out characters to list this under. A lot of it's about Hinata, obviously, since she's the one on the team with the boys. But it's not strictly about her, as her relationships with Sasuke and Naruto play a big role too. Finally, I decided it was mostly about Hinata and Sakura's friendship; which is definitely the largest relationship change this created... except for the upcoming mess with Itachi. Enough of my ramblings, right? See you next time, I hope!

**Up Next: **Boundaries - Ino has a few things to say about this situation.


	4. Boundaries

**Boundaries**

A gaggle of voices filled Ichiraku, livening up the sweltering heat of the summer day with animated chatter. The noisiest was a knot four young shinobi: three of them tolerating the blatant enthusiasm of their blond companion for both the shared lunch, and his delight in having someone to share it _with_. Sasuke had positioned himself on the far side of Naruto, keeping as far away from Sakura as feasibly possible while retaining his air of detachment. This left Hinata sandwiched between the other kunoichi and Naruto himself… and Naruto's blatant attempts to catch Sakura's attention.

"It's not a date, Naruto," she growled, reaching across Hinata to smack the blond on the top of his head with a fist. "Hinata and Sasuke-kun are both here."

Hinata squeaked a bit and withdrew into her jacket, casting a quick, shy, and slightly alarmed look at Naruto, who was busy rubbing at his abused head and sulking at Sakura's continued rebuffs. Sakura huffed at him and clenched her fists on top of her knees, flipping her long, pink hair away from her face before sneaking a look at the silent and emotionless Uchiha sitting at the other end of the bar. She wilted slightly when he continued to ignore both the commotion and her.

After another fruitless but hopeful glance, Sakura gave up and turned her attention to Hinata to draw the other girl into conversation. Since Sakura's inadvertent crashing of Team Seven's practice, the two had struck up a casual friendship, leaving Hinata with someone to talk to when her teammates inevitably ignored her in favor of their rivalry and Sakura with somewhere to go when her teammates were called back by their clans. Sakura paid more attention to Hinata than the shy girl was used to receiving, even if it was just to complain about her own teammates more often than not. "The next time I find one of Shino's bugs on me, I'm going to start wearing repellent and burning citronella candles."

"The Aburame insects are very useful in tracking," Hinata offered softly. "I'm sure Shino-kun doesn't mean to offend you."

Sakura's answering smile was wry as she swirled noodles around with her chopsticks. "Keep that in mind the next time Naruto …"

"SAKURA!" a screech sounded from the front of the tiny restaurant, herald to a bristling blonde kunoichi in mesh and purple leather. "What do you think you're doing with Sasuke-kun?!"

Naruto paused, noodles halfway to his mouth, and Sasuke almost imperceptibly hunched over as Yamanaka Ino stormed up to them, to confront the pink-haired member of Team Eight with all the fury of a wronged valkyrie. Hinata looked downright alarmed at the coming confrontation as Sakura stiffened beside her and turned to level a glare at the other girl.

Sakura stood, and stalked a few steps towards the blonde kunoichi/her former best friend, fists balled and fairly bristling with anger at the blatant intrusion. "I'm having lunch with _Hinata-chan_ and her team, Ino-pig," Sakura stated, reaching out to snag Hinata's arm and hold it up, half dragging the poor girl off her seat. Hinata squeaked in surprise and fumbled to put her chopsticks down with her free hand.

Ino folded her arms and scoffed, "I don't believe that for a moment! You've never managed to make friends on your own before, and you are trying to win Sasuke's heart through his teammates!"

"Ino!" Sakura hissed, releasing Hinata – who flushed red as Naruto quickly set his own lunch aside and reached to steady her.

"You aren't part of Team Seven, Sakura!" Ino complained, still bristling and ignoring the glare both Sakura and Naruto were shooting her now. "You should be with your own teammates! And I'm not going to let you muscle in on Sasuke-kun like this!"

'Sasuke-kun' was doing his best to simultaneously ignore the two feuding kunoichi, finish his meal, and decide whether they would follow him if he simply got up and walked out.

"Kiba-san and Shino-san are busy with their clans this afternoon, Ino." Hinata said, gaining her breath back and quietly speaking up for the other girl. "Sakura isn't lying to you: she was only joining us for lunch."

"Those two idiots being busy with their clans is the story of my life some days," Sakura muttered, arms folding petulantly over her chest as she turned her ire back on Ino. "And I'm not going to just go twiddle my thumbs in my bedroom just because I'm not in a clan. I can spend time with anyone I want!"

Ino glared at them and finally huffed and stepped forward to shove Naruto out of the way, eliciting a squeak from Hinata as the blond crashed into her. "Then you won't mind one more," she declared, claiming Naruto's vacant seat for herself.

"_Ino_!" Sakura hissed, propping her fists on her hips and glancing towards the displaced Naruto, who had twisted the instant before he had collided with his female teammate and ended up sprawled on the floor of the ramen stand with a decidedly unconscious Hinata collapsed on top of him. Naruto scrambled out from underneath her, and started shaking her shoulder with more than a hint of guilty panic, trying to wake the dark-haired girl up. Even Sasuke had shifted his attention from staring straight ahead with chin perched on thumbs behind interlaced fingers to looking down to where Naruto was trying to wake Hinata.

Ino ignored the entire production with the air of a consummate prima donna stepping on stage. "Sakura," she said, sweetness dripping off her voice. "_You're_ not going to complain about this being a Team Seven lunch, are you? Because if you _are_…"

"I was going to say that this is a Team Seven lunch that _I_ was invited to," Sakura answered, with deceptive calm, slipping off her stool and helping Naruto pull the roused but woozy Hinata back to her feet. "But mostly I was going to yell at you for knocking Naruto _into Hinata-chan_." Sakura finished in a growl.

Ino spared Hinata a glance, nose wrinkling as she saw Naruto still standing nervously behind the girl looking like she was going to collapse on him at any moment. The blush spreading across her face as she half turned towards her worried teammate and breathed slowly and deliberately didn't do anything to reassure anyone she wouldn't do exactly that.

Sakura's eyes narrowed and her hands clenched, but movement from Sasuke forestalled the explosion. He pushed his half-empty bowl away and neatly set his utensils to one side and sliding off his stool.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked hesitantly, taking a step forward and half-reaching out to him before pulling back and into herself self-consciously. He spared her a brief look before turning away.

"Training," Sasuke answered shortly, laying the money for his lunch on the counter before shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned towards the door.

"You're _leaving_?" Ino demanded, twisting around and bristling accusingly as she caught Sakura's attention. "But Sasuke-kun, I just _got_ here!"

"Come on, dobe."

Naruto's eyebrows rose towards his hairline, surprised that Sasuke seemed to be volunteering to have company beyond the bare minimum. Deciding to just go with whatever strangely good mood had gripped his reclusive teammate, slurped down the last of his bowl and dropped a handful of ryou onto the counter before giving Sakura a quick wave and sticking his tongue out at Ino.

"Hinata," Sasuke said, glancing back long enough to catch her eyes and tilt his head towards the door in a clear order to join them. Hinata's pale eyes widened fractionally, but her money quickly joined Sasuke's and Naruto's on the counter and she bowed politely to the other girls.

Ino stared after the swift retreat of Team Seven, barely noticing as Sakura slid into the seat beside her and a bowl of ramen was placed in front of her. Sakura wordlessly picked up her chopsticks and began stirring the broth in her bowl as the restaurant owner's daughter cleared away the money and abandoned bowls beside her, getting the seats ready for future customers.

Sakura still didn't say anything as she picked up a few noodles and chewed on them thoughtfully. Ino glared at her once more for good measure, then finally gave into the warm scents appealing to her stomach and picked up her own chopsticks to stab them viciously into her bowl. Sakura glanced over with an amused look before turning back to her own food.

After several minutes of silence, Ino finally spoke. "Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"Sasuke-kun is still mine."

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed. "Whatever, Ino. At least he notices me."

* * *

**  
Kat's Notes:** Believe it or not, I actually do like Ino. I think she and Sakura can be a pair of screeching _harpies_ at this age, but I love them. They're allowed to be twelve and a bit childish.

So, not that I really expect any takers but if there is something in particular you'd like to see, please feel free to ask. I've been avoiding the scenes that would be extremely similar to the series, but if there's a favorite you'd like to see, I'm totally up to taking requests.

**Up Next:** "Betrayal" - Running away from home just got a lot more difficult for the Uchiha Avenger.


	5. Betrayal

So sorry for the delay on this! Life dogpiled me for a bit, and I didn't get around to posting anything. But here it is!

And here's where I break madly with the Naruto canon. Again, Kakashi in this has been training his kids instead of just leaving them to their own devices, intercepting attacks meant for them, and teaching the murderous one high-class techniques. I like him as a competent instructor, so we're going to roll with that. I think just about everyone's jumped on the "be mean to Sasuke" bandwagon at this point, but if you didn't see this plotline coming from the moment I switched around Sakura and Hinata ... wow, you trust me to be nicer than I actually am.

Quite a bit of dialogue is lifted in this from the Naruto series, since one of the scenes parallel to it, so I'll disclaim ownership of those parts.

**

* * *

  
**.: **Betrayal** :.

Hinata shifted with a rustle of silk on silk as she turned to face Sakura, her pale eyes sleepy but bright in the filtered moonlight. "Sakura?"

"I ... oh I'm sorry, Hinata," the other girl whispered back, pulling her face out of her pillow and flopping to one side with her visible hand clutched tightly in her borrowed bedding. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's," a yawn caught Hinata by surprise and she stifled it in her pillow before continuing, "It's all right, Sakura. Do you need something?"

"No," Sakura answered, before curling in on herself beneath her blankets and sighing. "I can't sleep."

"Perhaps you're unsettled because the village was attacked?" Hinata hazarded, folding an arm beneath her head and rubbing sleep from her eyes. "And... and because Sasuke-kun was injured?"

Sakura let out a breath and shook her head. "Probably," she admitted. "He and that idiot Naruto are at each other's throats more than usual, they almost hurt you, Kurenai was part of an attack from a pair of missing-nin too, and everyone just seemed so on edge even before that. I don't want anything to happen to anyone ielse/i, but I can't help feel like something else is coming. And I don't want it to, Hinata-chan."

Sakura pulled her pillow down into her arms and buried her nose in its fluffy softness. She iwas/i worried; about her teammates, about Hinata's teammates, and about the village in general. Even with the new Hokage reassuring the village, Sakura was worried.

"Even with the Hokage sending nearly everyone on missions, I'm sure the village is safe, Sakura," Hinata reassured her, folding her hands under her cheek.

"I'm more worried about Sasuke-kun being safe," Sakura admitted, "or doing something … drastic. Kurenai-sensei said that man could break her genjutsu: that it just didn't work because of his Sharingan. She said that man pulled _Kakashi_ into one, who has a Sharingan too. And then he attacked Sasuke-kun, and who knows what he did to him." Sakura curled in on herself and worried at her bottom lip with her teeth. "So, I'm worried about the village, but I'm mostly worried about Sasuke-kun," she decided, sighing. "But Kakashi-sensei's keeping an eye on him, right? You said they've been training together more often lately. And he probably knows what to look for."

"Yes, but Kakashi-sensei is on a mission," Hinata said, sighing. "I know he spoke to Sasuke-kun before he left, but I'm worried about them too. I don't think he wanted to go, but I'm sure he'll return as soon as he can."

Sakura straightened, green eyes widening in shocked understanding and she broke away from Hinata with a small stumble. Hinata blinked wide eyes at her, startled at the sudden tenseness in her friend. "Sakura-chan?"

"Kakashi-san's _gone_? I...I have to go, Hinata-chan," Sakura gasped, levering herself out of her blankets and scrambling to her feet. Hinata started and pulled herself up to her knees, reaching out a restraining hand to Sakura, who was straining forward even as she half-turned to address the other girl. "I just ... I think I need some air to settle the worries down. I'm going to go for a walk. It should help me sleep. And maybe get a drink." Sakura smiled in a way she probably thought was reassuring, but looked fake and strained. "Go back to sleep, Hinata-chan, I'll be back soon." Sakura pulled her hand free and rushed silently out of the room, leaving Hinata to stare after her.

Hinata hesitated for a few minutes, her hands clenching in her blankets before relaxing and pushing herself out of bed. Something was obviously wrong with Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei's absence had frightened Sakura. Though at worst, Sakura most likely wanted to just check on Sasuke and would be back after she had done that. But, Sasuke was Hinata's teammate, which made him her responsibility.

Hinata grabbed her dressing gown on the way out the door and pulled it on as she followed the path Sakura was most likely to take. Clan protocol restricted the use of the Byakugan within the compound – and Hinata did not want to overreact just in case Sakura was only in the bathroom, or out in the house garden – so her search was made without the minute flare of chakra that would bring every shinobi in the house – particularly her father and cousin – boiling through the doors expecting attack.

After a brief check of the nearest bathroom – the one she was sure Sakura knew how to find – and the house's main kitchen, Hinata quickly made her way into the central garden. She now didn't expect to find her vanished friend on the paths taking a walk, as she had said she was going to, but felt she had to thoroughly check before jumping to drastic conclusions. However, it only took a few meters before she realized that she couldn't see any trace of the other girl.

Frowning in concern, Hinata dashed silently for the compound's outer wall. There were places in the guard's security left intentionally light for those whose missions forced them to come and go in the middle of the night. They were still watched, and were minute enough an outsider would never catch them before they changed, but it left opportunity for a returning shinobi to wash the blood off before presenting himself or herself to the Elders, or for someone suddenly summoned to the Hokage to leave without disrupting the household. It also meant Hinata could slip over the walls without being questioned and detained after she found no trace of Sakura in the Hyuuga compound.

Hinata took a deep breath once she was a few streets away from home and forced down her worry and the beginning sick feeling of panic. She was Team Seven's reconnaissance expert. If she could track Kakashi-sensei during training - even if he was going quite easy on her - she could track Sakura.

She brought her hands up in a seal, and the limitations of her vision lifted, leaving everything bright and glowing with chakra, and sharpening into perfect focus. The people of Konoha shifted in their beds or moved about their homes, movement catching her attention briefly before it moved on. Hinata ran forward, following the direction Sakura had raced off in, until she reached the wall of a nearby building and leapt nimbly to the roof, feet sticking with a slight push of chakra through her sandals.

A slight breeze mingling the earthy scents of the outer forest and the sharper tang of the village's people was ignored as it tugged at her clothing. Hinata caught flickers of movement from other ninja traveling across the rooftops, but ignored their dark forms as she searched for a bright one. Finally, she saw it: a genjutsu-obscured flash of pink hair and a small body clad in shorts and a worn t-shirt, both stolen from larger teammates. Hinata leapt to the next roof in pursuit, the worry gnawing at her stomach growing as she realized Sakura was heading for the village gates.

Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, concentrating on keeping her footing on the slanted roofs of the village, pausing only occasionally to check and make sure she was still following Sakura. As she neared the gates, however, Hinata stilled, her pale eyes widening as Sasuke appeared, walking down the dark road with his hands shoved in his pockets and the pack he used for overnight missions slung over his shoulders. Damningly, she couldn't see the glint of light off metal on his forehead, and Hinata felt a stab of sorrow that spurred her forward, though slower and as silently as she could manage. Hinata watched as Sakura intercepted him and, though she was too far away to hear what Sakura was saying, she saw Sasuke hesitate.

.oOo.

Her ridiculous hair was washed out by the distance of the streetlights, turning it from pink to something closer to gray, and Sasuke saw she looked half dressed, and more ready for sleep than lurking in the shadows waiting for him. But, she had likely run out into the night to without any thought or preparation at all. She wasn't even armed: he saw no tell-tale lumps formed from kunai pouches or senbon sheathes. She carried nothing but her signature genjutsu and dubious hand-to-hand skills. "Why are you prowling around here in the middle of the night?"

"I ..." Sakura hesitated, closed her eyes and breathed slowly before reopening them to face him. "I knew you would come this way if you were to leave."

Sasuke bit back a sigh and started forward again, stepping past Sakura as he said, "Get out of here. Go home and back to sleep."

She didn't move beyond shifting her weight with a soft scraping of her feet, and he could hear the hitched intake of breath that said she was crying. Again. Finally, the girl forced out words. "Sasuke-kun, why are you doing this? I know about your past. Even if you get your revenge, it won't bring anyone happiness. Not even you."

"I know that," he answered. But Sakura would never understand that it wasn't about happiness. He had tried for happiness, had even believed he'd found a refuge from the loneliness in Naruto's rivalry, Hinata's shy acknowledgment, Kakashi's protection and the antics of everyone else that clustered around them now. But that man would never allow it, and Sasuke knew he wasn't powerful enough to defend it or anything else - not even himself. He was still just as helpless he had been back then, he knew it even without the blood of his family splashed across the walls. This was survival. It would be revenge. And the hot pulse of the curse seal branded into his skin promised an end to the fear. "I'm different from you, and I can't follow the same path. So from here on out, we all begin new paths."

Scraping footsteps sounded as Sakura closed the distance between them and Sasuke tensed as he found her hand fisting in the fabric of his shirt and hauling him around to face her.

"I love you!" Sakura shouted, frustration causing the tears streaking her face to fall faster, and a tiny, strangled, gasp ended the statement. "I love you. And I'll even help you with your revenge," tears were half-drowning out her voice even as her grip loosened on his clothing and her arms slid around him in a desperate hug. "I'm not useless! I would help, Sasuke. So stay ... or if you can't stay ... then take me with you."

She meant it, he knew, reading the tension in the lines of her body as easily as he read the intent of an enemy. She meant every word that: she would try to help him, that she would leave Konoha with him, if only he would allow it. But, he also knew Sakura didn't know what she was asking. "You really are annoying," he told her, the barest hint of warmth softening his tone, but not quite reaching his eyes.

"Don't leave," she begged, voice thoroughly roughened by her hitching, quiet sobs. "The Hyuuga probably saw me leaving the compound. If you leave, I'll scream."

"Sakura," he said, the quiet word cutting off her words. Sasuke shifted and slid his arms around her shoulders, lightly returning her clinging embrace for a moment. She stilled, drawing in a small breath of shock. "Thank you."

His fingers tapped the nerve along the back of her neck, and Sakura stiffened for an instant before crumpling. Sasuke tightened his grip, steadying her before he stooped to pull her more securely into his arms, supporting her shoulders an her legs as he carried her to a nearby bench and set her down. If she was telling the truth, then the Hyuuga would notice their guest's absence before too long and arrive to collect her. He used that reasoning to firmly squash the hissing voice telling him not to leave her defenseless and asleep out in the open as he turned back towards the village gates.

Standing in his path was Hinata. The pale eyes of his kunoichi teammate stared at him, almost impossibly wide as she stood there, one hand raised and quivering with indecision. She, like Sakura, was not dressed for intercepting anyone, though Hinata had a dressing gown wrapped around her body and tied at her waist instead of appearing in nothing but her night clothes. Sasuke scowled, realizing that Sakura had been with Hinata in the Hyuuga compound and they had been doing something ridiculously girly before Sakura decided to ambush him.

"Sasuke-kun," Hinata said. Hinata stepped closer and shook her head. Her eyes flickered towards Sakura, the other girl's prone form draped across the cooling stone of the bench. "I heard most of it, Sasuke-kun," Hinata told him, pale eyes following as he stepped closer and didn't look at her, though he still caught her sudden, slight bow as she apologized, "Forgive me for eavesdropping. It wasn't something I was meant to hear." Sasuke ignored her until she straightened and spoke again, her hands dropping loosely to her sides. "But I… I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. I _icannot_/i let you leave the village… not like this." Her eyes were bright, the veins surrounding them distended from her activated bloodline limit and the darkened pupils watching him with a sense of determined sorrow. "Sakura tried to stop you. Naruto-kun ... This will hurt Naruto-kun very badly."

Sasuke tensed, losing some of his veneer of being calm and unaffected. "Hinata." He almost sighed, his eyes staring past her towards the gates.

"I… I won't let you hurt them like this."

"Hurt them?" Sasuke's eyebrows raised and a smirk tugged at his mouth. "Or hurt i_him/i_?"

Hinata's eyes widened and a blush spread across her face as she sucked in a short breath and her spine stiffened. Sasuke used the distraction, flickering out of sight instantly and appearing behind her, with hand poised for a nerve strike. Hinata pivoted, ducking beneath his hand and her fingers ignited with blue chakra as they stabbed towards him. Sasuke snatched his hand back, but felt the lightning-fast tap of Hinata's fingers against his wrist before he withdrew and a sharp pain that faded almost instantly into an odd tingle. He avoided her next strike, jumping back from the flattened palm he knew would wreak havoc with his chakra system, and brought up his hands to form a seal.

The fingers of the hand Hinata had struck refused to bend, and Sasuke hissed under his breath, feeling an answering pulse of fury from the seal branded on his neck. She'd collapsed the tenketsu in his wrist, disabling two-handed seals, leaving him with mostly low level jutsu, and taijutsu. Worse, a prolonged fight with her would call the attention of both the ANBU and the Hyuuga clan. His eyes narrowed and the Sharingan bled into existence. Hinata bit her lip, but settled smoothly into a balanced stance, one arm stretched out behind her.

Sasuke dipped his fingers into his weapons' pouch and pulled several shuriken out, flicking them towards Hinata. She dodged, twisting out of the way of the projectiles so they struck the retaining wall behind her, before three of Sasuke surrounded her. The chakra pathways of the real one shone more brightly than the two clones, but that they had chakra pathways told her they were more than simple clones. Hinata's eyes narrowed at the reminder of Naruto's favorite technique.

The first clone lunged towards her, ducking underneath Hinata's deadly hands and launching his fist at her stomach, only to stumble through a puff of smoke and land heavily on a substituted log. The clone evaporated, leaving the remaining two Sasukes to draw closer together, standing back to back with crimson eyes searching for his missing opponent. "Hiding, Hinata?" One asked, as a smirk touched his lips. The second drew a kunai, letting it dangle from his fingertip as he straightened confidently. "You're good at that. But if you won't come out, I'll make you."

They broke apart, one dashing towards the gate while the other went for Sakura, kunai flipping into a firm grip and launching towards the unconscious girl. He smiled as he heard Hinata's gasp, followed by shuriken – reclaimed from the ones he had thrown earlier – flying past an instant before Hinata herself raced back into view. Her sleeping robe had come untied and flared out behind her as she skidded to a stop and straightened between her teammate and the gate. Sasuke heard his clone vanish with a pop behind him, struck by the shuriken it had not bothered to dodge.

"Uchiha run from the Hyuuga now?" Hinata asked, voice soft, but loud enough he heard her and his smile twitched into an irritated glare.

"Get out of my way."

"No."

Sasuke hissed in irritation and dashed at her, vanishing from normal vision for a split second before appearing behind the kunoichi and bringing his hand down on her collarbone in a disabling strike. Hinata cried out at the sickening crunch, reaching her other hand up to clutch at the injury, the blue chakra flickering out around her hands, even as her foot lanced out into his midsection, catching Sasuke in the stomach. He was knocked away, catching up against the opposite wall, the breath knocked out of his lungs. He collapsed onto his stomach, gasping, with his hands fisted beneath his body.

Hinata sucked in a breath of her own to keep her stomach down, discreetly moving her shoulder and finding, to her relief, she could, meaning the bone was likely bruised but not broken. Massaging away as much of the pain as she could, Hinata cautiously approached Sasuke.

He rolled to his knees before she reached him, Sharingan eyes bright with triumph. He had used the distraction to force his unresponsive hand into position and worked his way laboriously through the necessary seals, forming each one deliberately until he snapped out the final one, and felt the surge of chakra gathering in his left hand. The chirping of Sasuke's chidori filled the air, and cast baleful, garish, white light over the buildings and two combatants.

Hinata pivoted away from his reach, eyes wide with shock at the attack Sasuke was using against her, and threw herself sideways, flattening her palm against the stones below her and using it as leverage to bring her foot up into Sasuke's elbow, knocking the deadly chidori off target. The edge of the lightning ball crackled across her skin, wrenching a cry from her, though she avoided enough of it to land heavily on her feet and visibly force the pain away. Sasuke's hand crashed into the ground, the collected lightning detonating, throwing stone and grass into the air with a shattering crack. He pulled himself upright as Hinata's near-whisper reached him an instant before she did.

"Hakke Rokujuuyonshou."

Pain blossomed across his body, flaring from pinpoint strikes he couldn't block with collapsing tenketsu and unresponsive muscles. The Sharingan flickered out, starved for the chakra that fed it, and he saw Hinata complete the attack, her glowing fingers pressing against his chest a breath before darkness clawed at the edge of his vision and dragged him under.

.oOo.

Hinata stared for a moment, amazement washing over her as her hands dropping slowly to her sides, blue chakra dimming before it flickered out. Sixty-four strikes, and every one had connected. She had never been able to accomplish it in practice; partly because she never wanted to cause serious injury or pain to her sparring partner before, and partly because she invariably froze with her father looking on. Now, she could still feel a shadow of anger towards her teammate, though the desperation that had fueled her attack had ebbed.

Hinata pushed her fingertips together in thought, looking between Sakura's sleeping form, and Sasuke - who sprawled across the road at an awkward angle. She didn't think she could lift him by herself, but if she could rouse Sakura, they probably could between them. Temporarily abandoning Sasuke, Hinata hurried towards Sakura, flashing through the seals to reactivate her Byakugan to see the tiny flare of blocked chakra at the back of her friend's neck.

It was a clumsy adaptation of a jyuuken strike, one with a large enough tenketsu point most ninja could learn where to strike even without the benefit of being able to see it. Hinata slipped her hands under Sakura's shoulders and waist and pushed, rolling the other girl to her side before letting chakra flare in her hand once more and tapping Sakura's neck, just under her short-cropped hair. To Hinata's eyes, a tiny flare of chakra burst from the other girl, like a soap bubble being popped, and Sakura curled in on herself. It took a moment before she relaxed out of her clenched curl, and flopped onto her back, eyes opening with a start. Sakura gasped and dropped her hands flat to her sides, using them to lever herself upright with a cry of, "Sasuke!" that turned into a gasp of sudden pain and an unsteady teeter as her balance left her.

Hinata leaned forward and slid her arm behind Sakura's shoulders, supporting her before she fell, as Sakura rubbed a hand against the back of her neck, wincing from the ache of released chakra she now noticed crashing through her head. "Hinata?" Sakura hazarded, opening her eyes enough to peer at the other girl, leaving one hand clamped firmly to the epicenter of her headache.

"Yes," Hinata answered, shifting to help Sakura get her feet on the ground and lean upright against the bench.

"We have to get help!" Sakura said, swaying forward as she tried to get up. "Sasuke-kun left! He's going to Orochimaru."

Hinata's eyes widened at that, but she pushed Sakura back down and shook her head. "Sasuke-kun..." she moved aside so Sakura could see past her, and both looked at the disarrayed lump that was Sasuke, Sakura blinking in surprise and Hinata with mouth thinned in determination. "Sasuke-kun is not leaving the village, Sakura."

"You knocked him out?" Sakura blinked and shifted her attention towards Hinata with no little awe in her voice and expression

"I ..." Hinata ducked her head and a blush spread across her cheeks and nose as she nodded self-consciously.

Sakura wrapped her up in a tight hug and sniffed back relieved tears. A startled squeak from Hinata drew a soft laugh, and a heartfelt, "Thank you, Hinata-chan."

"What are we going to do with Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked, twisting her head away to look back towards her fallen teammate. Sakura released her and stepped back, rubbing at her eyes to dash away the leftover tears as she looked past Hinata with a speculative look.

"Maybe we should leave _him _on the bench," Sakura said, frowning and rubbing at the back of her neck. "And go get someone official to deal with this."

Hinata bit down on a smile and coughed. "I don't think we should just leave Sasuke-kun on a bench."

Sakura hesitated, looking like she wanted to disagree before releasing her breath with a soft huff. "Right, he might wake up. And we can't really take him back to the Hyuuga compound."

Hinata's eyes widened at the thought and she paled. The very idea explaining any boy within the compound, let alone her room, and particularly Uchiha Sasuke, was horrifying. She could imagine her father's reaction perfectly. Explaining _any_ of the night would be horrible. "W… we should take Sasuke-kun home and … keep an eye on him?"

"We can't just take him home and hope he doesn't leave a second time," Sakura decided, with a contemplative frown. "And we can't leave him _here_. Something's wrong with Sasuke-kun, Hinata-chan. He wouldn't leave the village, not like this, if there wasn't."

"If it meant he could kill Uchiha Itachi, I think he would," Hinata said, eyes downcast, then her forehead wrinkled and she looked up. "But we cannot take him to the compound. It would be … bad for clan relations," Hinata told her, pressing her fingertips together in nervous thought. "The Hyuuga and Uchiha were once rivals, and putting him in that situation … Sasuke-kun wouldn't thank us for diminishing his clan's standing in the eyes of the other clans."

Sakura wrinkled her nose, having crossed the rough edge of Hyuuga clan politics before in her visits to the Hyuuga compound, and come out slightly scorched. Not every Hyuuga approved of their heiress choosing a friend from a civilian family, and a good number of them had no qualms about expressing their opinion out of earshot of Hiashi-sama. "Well, that takes Shikamaru-kun out of our options then. We can't show up at the Nara clan holdings either. We can't go straight to the Hokage, our sensei are gone, and we don't know who else will be here, or who else we can even trust," she said, frustrated.

"What about Iruka-sensei?" Hinata suggested, looking up suddenly. "He would know what to do, and the academy teachers should still be in the village."

Hinata found herself engulfed in Sakura's hug again as the other kunoichi brightened. "Hinata, you're a genius!"

* * *

**Kat's notes:**

So this was supposed to be the last story in this mini-AU. Hinata takes Sasuke out, and the idiocy that is him going to pedosnake never happens. (or does it?) However … this one just got _long_. Usually, I plan three to four scenes in a chapter. That's about how long my attention span lasts for any given chapter. This one was going "I'm going to be ten or twelve scenes! And twenty pages! 8D". So, it got chopped in half, and dealing with the fallout will be along once I'm finished writing it.

Also, Taryn asked to see some of the Chuunin exams, so I'm in the process of deciding how to format that, and what to include.

Thanks for reading my little road trip into strangeness!


	6. Perspective

**Notes**: Holy snipe, it's been how long since I got blocked on this story? That long? Really! Well then ...

This is a direct follow-up to "Betrayal" – because that sucker was getting long. And this sucker got kinda long too... longer than the last one, in fact. And Iruka took over. (Good job for a character I didn't include at all in the drafting.) And Sasuke was being a drama queen. I know, when isn't he?

**Summary:** The girls drag their helpless captive to the most familiar authority figure they can think of.

* * *

**Perspective**

Iruka's hand closed reflexively around the wrapped handle of the kunai under his pillow as a timid knock sounded through his apartment. The knock sounded again a moment later, this time stronger and followed by the low murmur of voices beyond his front door. Iruka slid out of bed, bringing the kunai with him as his sock-covered feet padded silently across the floor. Another knock, faster and sounding a bit frantic, started as his hand closed around the knob and pulled the door open to his impromptu guests.

Pink and purple and black heads, illuminated by his porch light and the faint, reflected glow of the streetlights below, bobbed below him. Sakura, Hinata, and Sasuke, his sleep-groggy mind identified, pushing past the rudimentary combat awareness of a just-woken shinobi (who knew enemies didn't knock on the front door) to a more alert state. Sasuke's head lolled forward, and his feet dragged between the two girls, both of whom had one of his arms slung over her shoulders.

"Girls, what happened?" Iruka rushed forward to catch the younger boy under the arms and pull his weight away from the girls. He shifted Sasuke around until he could latch one arm under his knees and hoist the gangly form more comfortably into his arms. His mind ran through dozens of possibilities as the two kunoichi recovered their balance and exchanged glances. "Never mind, tell me in a moment. Inside, all of you." Iruka shook his head, backing up to give them room to follow him back into his apartment, and taking care not to knock Sasuke against the doorframe.

Hinata and Sakura followed him silently, edging closer together until they were standing shoulder to shoulder with their hands gripping the other between them. They watched as Iruka settled Sasuke's limp form on the small couch before edging past them to lock the door and set a several traps on it. That done, he turned back to his two conscious guests and folded his arms expectantly. "Now, since I don't hear any alarms going off, I don't think there was another attack."

"Well, no," Sakura said, slowly, nose wrinkling in worry as she glanced towards Hinata, "not exactly."

"I attacked Sasuke-kun, Iruka-sensei," Hinata reported matter-of-factly. "He was attempting to leave the village."

"And he'd already knocked me out," Sakura added grumpily. She brightened immediately and squeezed Hinata's hand, "But Hinata-chan kicked his ass."

Hinata blushed scarlet, but didn't refute Sakura's proud declaration. Iruka shook his head in silence for a moment before his eyes sharpened and fell on the travel sack emblazoned with the Uchiha symbol still hoisted over Sakura's shoulder. "Hinata, if he wakes back up, can you knock him out again?"

Hinata chewed on her bottom lip and cast a nervous glance at her unconscious teammate, before straightening and nodding. Iruka sighed and rubbed at the scar across his nose. "Then give me a few minutes to get dressed. All of you need to speak to the Hokage."

.oOo.

"You're quite the idiot, aren't you?" a dry voice asked as Sasuke clawed his way out of unconsciousness and opened his eyes. The new Hokage leaned across her desk, chin set comfortably on her interlaced fingers as she watched him wake up. Sasuke ignored the pain from collapsed tenketsu points that jabbed at him with every small shift his body made, and forced himself straight in the chair he had been slumped in.

Nara Shikamaru slumped against the far wall, looking disgruntled and mostly asleep, but with an easy path of shadows placed between himself and Sasuke. Hinata hovered uncertainly nearby, but looking at her briefly, he could see a glint of the same resolve in her eyes she'd had right before she knocked him on his ass. Even Sakura lurked nearby, trying to stay out of the way beside Iruka-sensei of all people.

The curse seal gave a burned pulse on his neck, and Sasuke felt alien fury wash through him. The Hokage noticed and raised an eyebrow at him. "None of that, brat," she told him. "You should probably be conscious for your sentencing, after all."

Sentencing echoed in Sasuke's head as he watched Tsunade shift and drum her fingers across two of the folders that sat on her desk, and he forced himself not to react or acknowledge the thread of unease uncurling itself and starting to prowl around in his stomach. If he died, no one would kill that man in the name of his vengeance. He forced back the sick feeling of failure and focused on the Hokage. If they locked him up, he would escape. He was an Uchiha, but someone would underestimate him eventually.

"As you didn't actually make it out of the village," Tsunade continued, dryly, "I'm willing to not declare you a retrieved missing nin and have you executed. Besides, as you are the only Uchiha still in Konoha, we still require you to restore your clan and its bloodline." Her smile turned edged as she leaned forward towards Sasuke, clearly enjoying the slight widening of his dark eyes as she spoke. "And you will be doing that, Uchiha. But not for a few more years."

Sasuke heard a mortified squeak he suspected came from Hinata, and fought down the warmth he could feel spreading across his cheeks. Uchiha didn't blush. Not even if the old bat of a Hokage were trying to unnerve him. He looked away from her contemptuously, eyes sliding inadvertently to the other kunoichi in the room. Sakura had slipped away from Iruka to join Hinata. Maybe she had a shred of common sense if she'd focused her attention away from someone she couldn't follow.

Tsunade cast honey-gold eyes towards the girls for a moment before leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms beneath her pendulous chest and pining Sasuke with her attention again. "The question still remains what to do with you. You've endangered your teammates before this, and threatened the security of this village with your antics. Though," she held up a hand to forestall any voiced objection to her accusations, "I realize some of that is mitigated by both Orochimaru's curse-seal and your brother's actions, you are still responsible for your actions. You think you're ready to face Orochimaru and make one of the Sannin pay homage to your superiority? You're not. You're a spoiled brat who completely failed to learn the most harped-on lesson his sensei ever tried to teach him. In short, I think you're an Uchiha, with every ounce of distilled arrogance the members of that clan ever possessed."

Her eyes flicked to the darkened window, beyond which stood the Hokage Monument and the faces of two Senju leaders. Sasuke bristled internally at the reminder that the relationship between the Senju and Uchiha clans had been historically rocky, keeping his expression neutral and aloof. "You're a flight risk, so until further notice, you are under house arrest. Whether that's in your apartment, the Uchiha compound, or the detention center I'll leave up to your sensei's judgment when he returns. In the meantime, you'll be escorted by my ANBU back to your apartment.

"Also, I am going to recommend Hatake train you for ANBU," Tsunade told him. "If you're going to insist on going after Akatsuki, you'll be doing it in Konoha's name moreso than your own." Sasuke looked mutinous, and his left shoulder twitched almost imperceptibly. Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "You want to surpass Uchiha Itachi, brat? He was ANBU at your age, and he rejected Orochimaru. You will also undergo regular evaluations, and be considered on parole, which will be lifted once you have proven you are no longer a flight risk to the satisfaction of your teammates, the evaluator, and myself." Her fingers threaded together and the Hokage tilted her head to the side consideringly, watching Sasuke's hands tighten.

He sat tense and furious for several long breaths before looking away sharply. Tsunade smirked at the surly display of submission and waved at him in dismissal. "For now, you'll escort Hinata and Sakura home. ANBU will escort you home after that. Hatake's expected back by the end of the week, and I'll expect you both in my office when he returns. Umino, I'm sure you would appreciate getting at least some sleep, so you are dismissed."

Porcelain-masked ANBU appeared silently at the back of the room, and moved to flank Sasuke. Tsunade nodded to each of them before speaking. "Uchiha is to escort his teammate and her friend back to the Hyuuga compound, before going straight home. Hatake will relieve you when he returns from his mission. And send someone to pry Jiraiya out of his research. I want the curse seal locked back down by morning."

.oOo.

Sasuke broke away from them at the first breath of early-morning air outside of the tower, stalking ahead until a tense spike of disapproval from the two ANBU slowed him slightly. Hinata's fingers drifted together as Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and cast both girls a resentful glare before ignoring them coldly.

Hinata stared after her seething teammate with a sad sigh before turning to Iruka and offering him a polite bow. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei. I hope you will sleep well for the rest of the night."

Iruka's lips thinned in disapproval as he also watched Sasuke, who was now being shadowed by one of the ANBU and a few tell-tale flickers of movement on the rooftops. Sakura fidgeted, looking torn between dashing forward to catch up with Sasuke and remaining behind with Hinata for politeness' sake. "Maybe I should go with you as far as the compound. Or try and talk with him."

"I don't think Sasuke-kun is in a mood where he would listen," she said, looking sadly towards the now still form of Sasuke. One of the ANBU had slipped in front of him, and forced him to stop, leaving the young man caged between the two older shinobi and ignoring them as thoroughly as he could. Hinata sighed. "Perhaps later. Though Naruto-kun may need you more than Sasuke-kun, sensei."

Sakura winced. "I really don't think we should bring Naruto into this, Hinata-chan. At least not until we can put Sasuke-kun under protective custody first."

"He'll have to be told eventually," Iruka pointed out, reaching up to grip the back of his neck and relieve some of the tightness wound into his muscles by the stress of the evening. "Hokage-sama isn't going to let Sa ... Uchiha-san free of his probation until his entire team agrees he's not going to run off again. That's going to include Naruto and Hatake." Iruka smiled a bit, and reached out to ruffle the girl's dark hair proudly. "Though, I suppose if he tries, Hinata-chan can just knock him flat again,"

A derisive snort from Sasuke drew their attention, though he was still looking away and had shoved his hands in his pockets, Sasuke was half-turned towards the rest of the group. They watched him, and he continued to ignore them until Iruka tilted his head curiously and crossed his arms across his chest. "Is there something you would like to say?"

"No."

Sakura looked to Hinata, taking in the other girl's fidgeting as they walked and sidled closer, giving her what silent support she could as they moved to catch up to Sasuke. He waited for them, rather than dodging around the still forms of his ANBU guards. The ANBU slid out of the way as the other three arrived, and Hinata finally looked up.

"I don't hate you, Sasuke-kun," She told him quietly, her tone stopping just short of an apology. "I … I couldn't let you leave. It would have hurt Na … all of us."

"Just say Naruto, Hinata. We know what you mean, so don't dress it up as concern for the team. Everything you do is for him. Every scrap of ambition I've ever seen from you was to catch his attention." He ignored Hinata's mortified squeak of protest and turned his back on her, leaving his hands relaxed in calculated insult. "I didn't take you seriously when you said you would stop me. Why should I?" Sasuke started forward again, his next words spoken with bored malice to the air in front of him, knowing it would carry back to them in the still quiet of the night air. "A Hyuuga. The heiress. But you're more in last place than Naruto. He's the only one you think might be stupid enough to accept you without expecting you to ever act your station. This is the strength of the Hyuuga, Hinata? The heir apparent stringing along a low born piece of trash who will be grateful enough for a few stuttering scraps of attention to play at being her puppet."

Hinata's pale eyes widened until white showed around the edges, and she curled in on herself, face draining to an unnatural white with a crushing mixture of shame and hurt. Her shoulders hunched, a slight tremble running through them as her dark hair fell forward to curtain her pale face. Her eyes dropped to the ground and she drew in a breath to speak, but nothing came out but a trail of broken stutters. "Th...tha...that's..." Hinata broke off as a blur of pink and red streaked past her.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed marginally as he held Sakura's hand inches away from connecting with his cheek. "Stop it, Sasuke-kun," Sakura ordered, yanking ineffectually at his grip. "Leave Hinata alone."

She stumbled as his hold on her released, and felt Hinata's hands press against her shoulders, steadying her. Sakura managed a brief look back to give her friend a quick nod of thanks before straightening and stalking forward a step towards the would-be Avenger. "Go ahead, say I'm being annoying. But leave Hinata alone. Hokage-sama could have executed you. Or taken away your rank so you weren't a Leaf shinobi anymore. And you have no idea what medical ninja like her can do to a person. Especially her. She's a Sannin. She could have sealed your chakra in ways no one could ever unlock it except for her. You wouldn't even be a missing-nin, Sasuke-kun, you'd just be an Uchiha, and only your brother's legend would matter. But it's not even about that, is it? This isn't even about Hinata and Naruto. This is because Hinata-chan kicked your ass."

Sasuke's hands clenched, irritation and fury flickering over his form and through his eyes before his usual stoic mask slammed over them. "You'll never understand my path, Sakura."

"You're right!" Sakura snapped back, fists clenching at her side and eyes bright with sudden mixture of anger and frustrated tears. "You're right! I don't understand! Because you're not making any sense, Sasuke! Itachi tells you to do something, and you do it? Why? Because bad guys don't lie? Because your brother wouldn't lie to you? He's the reason you don't have parents! And I hate him for that, because maybe if you did, you wouldn't be acting like this! You call me annoying, but I'm not the one who's sulking because he got grounded!"

Sakura's breath cut off in a strangled yelp as Sasuke slammed her against a fence on the far side of the path, one hand wrapped tightly around her throat and thumb pressing dangerously against her jugular. The girl hung limp with shock from his grip, both from the blurring speed of his attack and the unspoken threat to her life. The dark blotches of the spreading curse seal crept from beneath his collar as his hand tightened, and Sakura reached up to grab at his wrist, struggling feebly.

"You'll never understand," Sasuke said, pressing Sakura harder against the wood until her squeaking breath choked into airless swallows as she struggled to breath through a closed airway. "You're someone who can't fight her own battles, hiding behind Hinata's bloodline limit, or Shino's, or Kiba's, or even Naruto's. You hide from everything, Sakura."

The cold edge of a drawn sword pressed across Sasuke's throat, stilling him. One of the ANBU loomed behind him, her silent threat joined almost immediately by Iruka's quiet authority.

"Stop." Iruka ordered, looking tense, but firm as he appeared beside the three with a hand beside Sakura's on Sasuke's arm and another wrapped lightly around the ANBU's blade. "ANBU-san, under the circumstances, I think you should finish escorting Sasuke home while I see Hinata and Sakura safely back to the Hyuuga Compound. Sasuke, please let her go."

Sasuke glared mutinously, banked fury still smoldering in his eyes, only to be met by a disappointed frown he had seen directed at Naruto during particularly cruel pranks, but never received before. Sakura pulled herself away from his hand and skittered to safety behind Iruka, rocking the chuunin back a bit as her hands wrapped themselves into the back of his vest. Iruka slid a quick glance back at her before turning his full attention back to Sasuke, as he released the boy's arm.

The eyes behind the white ANBU mask slid to the short academy instructor speculatively as he removed the blade placed against Sasuke's throat and sheathed it. Sasuke found himself jerked back by a new grip as his arms were forced behind him and the ANBU marched him back to the center of the path. Sasuke snarled under his breath, and struggled, but didn't – or couldn't – pull himself free.

As a few of Sasuke's words reached them, Iruka felt Sakura relinquish her grip on his vest and step away. She slid past him, and turned to face Sasuke, not waiting until he looked at her to speak. "There's nothing I can do to stop you from trying to leave again," Sakura admitted, taking a deep breath as her fingers closed over her palm in a tightening fist. "But someday there will be. Go ahead and chase your demons, Sasuke. I'm not going to chase you anymore. I'm going to surpass you. Hinata won't have to fight for me. I'll learn how to fight for myself. Even if it's against you."

Sasuke looked at her for a bare instant before pulling forward, breaking from the grip of the ANBU that held him and walking away. Iruka stepped forward to put a hand on Sakura's shoulder as she let out a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Hinata hesitated for only a moment before moving closer to put an arm around Sakura's shoulders and pulled at her gently, allowing Sakura to crumple into her shoulder.

Iruka dragged in a heavy breath before nudging both girls forward with a gentle murmur. "Let's get you both home. This will all look better in the morning."

"No, it won't," Sakura sniffled miserably, muffled by Hinata's shoulder, but refusing to pull herself away until Hinata started walking and pulled her along. "He hates me now, and he hates Hinata, and tomorrow we have to tell Naruto."

Iruka rubbed at the back of his neck, the scar across his nose crinkling as he squeezed his eyes shut for a long moment before reopening them with a sigh. "Naruto will understand eventually," he assured them. "Yes, this is going to hurt him, and he's going to wish he had been there to beat some sense into Sasuke himself, but Sasuke didn't leave. He's under ANBU guard, and he's here. That's going to count for a lot in the long run."

Neither Hinata nor Sakura looked entirely convinced, but Sakura relaxed from her assurance-thirsting cling, and Hinata looked thoughtful as well as worried and sad. Iruka gave them a reassuring smile and walked a bit faster, wordlessly urging the girls on.

They slowed as they approached the Hyuuga compound, and its brightly burning lights. Hinata fidgeted, shrinking a bit behind Iruka's back as the gates loomed closer, and Hyuuga Neiji appeared between the posts, fully dressed and lips turned down in a slight frown as he saw the two missing girls. "Hinata-sama," he said, pale eyes turning to her, "It is good that you've returned. Hiashi-sama wishes to speak with you about tonight's events. Thank you, sensei, for seeing Hinata-sama and Sakura-san back." Neiji bowed slightly to Iruka before vanishing once again into the compound. Hinata and Sakura added their own thanks and quick bows before following.

"Good night," Iruka said, waiting until the gates of the Hyuuga compound swung shut before sighing and rubbing at his eyes. Returning home and passing out for the scant hours he had until the academy began sounded like the most appealing idea at the moment, but his conscience and sense of responsibility unsheathed claws as he considered it. Turning to leave, Iruka jumped to the rooftops, not wanting to waste more time than he had to in the dim hope of maybe getting to collapse in his bed somewhere before the night's end.

They were all still his students, he decided, no matter what Kakashi said, and even if they hadn't set foot in his classroom in months. Also, he doubted Kakashi - genius shinobi that he was - understood much about dealing with children; particularly damaged children.

And, despite the coming confrontation, he relaxed marginally as he traveled now that he didn't have to keep watch on the girls. Even with – and possibly because of – the ANBU escort, the paranoia bred by both the Academy and Mission Desk had been in full swing. After all, the ANBU were along to watch Sasuke, and to subdue him if the need arose. That had left Iruka with watch duty for a Main House Hyuuga, and a girl with perfect chakra control – both potential temptations for any operatives sent to retrieve the Uchiha for Orochimaru.

The ANBU would be watching over Sasuke, however, and would be joined by Jiraiya. Anyone short of Orochimaru himself would hesitate when faced with that. Not, he suspected, that the ANBU sent to find Jiraiya actually would have yet. Though, even if the old shinobi was found, available, and setting up the new seal on Sasuke, he would likely allow Iruka's presence.

Iruka arrived at the small block of apartments containing Sasuke's minutes later, and dropped from the rooftops to the street, walking up the exposed stairwell of the building, rather than approaching the window directly. A diminutive ANBU melted from the bulding's shadows before he had made it even halfway up, her white armor gleaming in the harsh lights reflecting up from the street, leaving the rest of her to blend into the contrasting darkness.

Iruka held his hands away from his body and forced himself to smile pleasantly. Only a bare few of the ANBU in service were anything he would consider sane, and he did know most of them. He privately thought the Konoha black ops gave up sanity along with identity, and didn't bother reclaiming it until they removed the mask. The kunoichi concealed behind the mongoose mask watched him silently until Iruka finally spoke.

"I'm here to speak with Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka told her, feeling a bit uneasy as she didn't respond. He dragged in a determined breath and forced himself to relax. "Hinata-kun and Sakura-kun were worried about him. As his jounin sensei is not in the village ... um ..."

The ANBU tilted her head, watching for a long moment as Iruka trailed off before stepping aside and fading back into the shadows. Iruka fought down an embarrassed blush and continued forward, climbing until he reached Sasuke's door. He knocked softly, and waited, letting several minute pass before trying again with the same result. Since there was very little chance Sasuke had slept through both knocks, Iruka decided he was being ignored, and let himself in. The door gave easily under his hand, obviously unlocked and every trap deactivated. Iruka frowned slightly at that, though he knew Sasuke was lucky the door was only unlocked, and not left standing open as well, but no shinobi willingly left himself vulnerable.

The door clicked shut behind him, and Iruka felt along the wall for the light switch. Every light in the apartment was off, leaving its only occupant brooding in the dark. His fingers stumbled over the switch a moment later, and he blinked owlishly as the room was abruptly flooded with light. Sasuke hunched on the couch, fingers threaded under his nose and white-knuckled. Iruka caught the brief gleam of dark eyes sliding towards him before shifting back to stare straight forward.

"Sasuke, you're not an opossum," Iruka chided gently. Sasuke ignored him, and Iruka hesitated for a long moment, rubbing at his neck and wondering what he was going to say now that he was here, before tentatively sitting on the couch, leaving a wide margin of space between himself and Sasuke.

"She shouldn't have said it, and I think she knows that. I didn't make her apologize to you because - as furious as she was - she wouldn't have meant it yet."

"I don't care."

Iruka looked sideways to see Sasuke unmoved and frowned. "I think you do. It always hurts when someone you were sure would support you attacks you instead. But everyone needs friends, Sasuke. Even Avengers."

Sasuke snorted. "I don't have time to be distracted or coddled by this village. I don't have time for friends. I spent a month with Kakashi, and he walked right through that training."

There was fear under the derision, Iruka recognized, and he smiled a bit. He could remember what it was like to not just feel alone in the world, but to really be alone, and know the thing that had taken everyone away from you was still out there. Not that Naruto was the Kyuubi, but all the assurances of the Third, and a law that stopped anyone from saying it, didn't stop people from thinking it.

"Itachi spent almost a year with Kakashi," Iruka said, watching Sasuke's eyes shift sideways in controlled interest. Iruka leaned forward, dangling his hands between his knees as he continued. "Kakashi was his captain in ANBU before Itachi was promoted to captain his own squad. The Sandaime wanted someone who could train Itachi and understood the higher evolutions of the Sharingan. And now Hokage-sama wants Kakashi to train you."

Sasuke was silent for several breaths, leaving Iruka silently praying that the silence was thoughtful and not dismissive. Though, he had taught Sasuke for years, and knew 'thoughtful' was usually only applied to fitting new information into the framework of what his clan had taught him. The boy's eyes stared straight ahead again, watching the far wall with a veil of dispassion drawn across them. When he finally spoke again, Iruka bit back a sigh of frustration. "ANBU assignments aren't general knowledge. You're just an academy teacher, Iruka-sensei."

"You'd be surprised at what 'just an academy teacher' knows," Iruka said. And, he mentally added, the young Uchiha heir would be even more surprised by what an academy teacher that helped staff the mission desk knew. "Orochimaru is strong; one of the strongest nin Konoha has ever produced, because he is both a genius and was trained by the Sandaime. But, he's not the strongest nin Konoha's produced. He was passed over for becoming hokage by Sandaime-sama because there was a better candidate. And that wasn't your brother either."

"The Yondaime's dead. So unless you know the secret to time travel, he's of no use to me either."

"Yondaime-sama is dead," Iruka agreed, threading his fingers together between his knees as an idea came to his mind. "But his sensei isn't."

Sasuke stiffened subtly before looking sideways towards Iruka. Got you, Iruka thought with a small thread of relieved triumph. "He's the man Hokage-sama is going to have reseal you. He should be here soon and you'll be able to meet him. You could always ask him why he stays in the village."

Sasuke was listening, Iruka knew, recognizing focused disinterest the young man displayed during lectures in class. He was listening, but Iruka didn't think he was convinced staying in the village was a better alternative to becoming a missing nin in pursuit of power.

For a moment, he debated revealing a few things that were definitely classified above genin level, and things an academy sensei had no business knowing. But, someone had to handle the reports, and the Sandaime had always been cautious with who that was. Iruka shoved the worry into a dark corner of his mind, and hoped the ANBU stationed outside the door didn't decide he was saying too much.

"He went after Itachi before coming for you," Iruka said, ignoring the way Sasuke's hands tightened around each other. "Itachi has already defeated Orochimaru, so if you go to him, you're asking for training from someone who challenged your brother and failed. That's probably why he's coming after a younger target. But, no matter how strong Orochimaru is, he is only one shinobi, and you're unlikely to find anyone stronger than him in Sound. Orochimaru would never allow it."

A wrinkle appeared above Sasuke's eyes, and his knuckles were bone white from tension.

"If you stay in Konoha, kid, you're going to have better training than you could with Orochimaru, and help finding Itachi." a new voice said from the doorway. Iruka and Sasuke looked up, as a massive man with a mane of white hair stepped inside and tucked his hands inside his wide sleeves. "Some of the best trackers live in this village. One of them is on your genin team. Might want to give her some time to cool down before asking for any favors, though."

Iruka rose to his feet and frowned at Sasuke, who remained seated. With a sigh, Iruka reached down, wrapped a hand in Sasuke's collar, and - with long practice of manhandling reluctant students (particularly Naruto) - hauled him up. Sasuke's hands wrapped around Iruka's wrist with bruising force, which was ignored, and the boy hastily pulled his feet under himself. "Jiraiya-sama. I see the ANBU found you."

"And I see you've been busy this evening, sensei."

A faint blush spread over Iruka's cheeks and nose, but he didn't deny it. He bowed, instead and started for the door, smothering a yawn. "I'll check back in on you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun."

Iruka heard no answer from the boy, but didn't really expect one either. The lack of a dismissive snort, or mutinous tension through his frame said what Sasuke never would. Iruka walked out the apartment's still-open door, and nodded to the ANBU perched in the shadows. She tilted her masked face a fraction in acknowledgment, but kept her silence and her post as he continued on his way.

Jiraiya waited long enough for the academy teacher to vanish out of easy sensing range before he reached out and slapped Sasuke in the back of the head, sending the boy stumbling into the couch. "That was not what you're supposed to do with a pair of beautiful girls, brat."

Sasuke rolled into a crouch, eyes bleeding Sharingan red in an instant, which earned him another solid thump to the top of his head. "None of that. I could lay Minato-kun out flat when I wanted to. You can't even take out your teammates." A slight exaggeration that, he thought without a trace of guilt. Minato had been Hokage for good reasons, and earned it all the way. But, the academy sensei had done a pretty good job talking him up, and he had no intention of wasting the kid's efforts.

The Uchiha brat was glaring at him, and tense - which placed him as more perceptive of danger than the other brat on his team. That, Jiraiya allowed a twinge of regret and past anger. Tsunade might be seeing the arrogance of a rival clan - the Senju and Uchiha were more often at odds than not all the way back to the village's founding - and the dangerous brilliance of a hailed genius - just like Orochimaru had been in the beginning - but Jiraiya allowed the little Uchiha credit where it was due. Whatever Itachi's intention in fanning his little brother's hatred into a fury, no one hated that much unless they were also afraid that much. It didn't make the boy's attempt at defection any less severe, and to Orochimaru of all people, but it was possibly a moment of panicked idiocy. Hatake could probably train that out of him.

"Shirt off, brat," Jiraiya ordered, pulling an ink stone and a brush out of his clothes. "Tsunade-hime's decided you need a better tattoo than the one you've got. And yes, it's going to hurt."

Sasuke clamped a hand over the seal branded below his neck and retreated a step before he caught himself, and the icy control settled back over him. He remained tense, but forced his hand away from protecting his neck, and straightened. "... I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

**Author's Soapbox (which you can totally skip, as it doesn't change future stories one way or the other and is a page and a half of me just rambling):**

I simultaneously love and hate this chapter. Ugh, angst. It is not my specialty. That said, I liked how parts of it turned out. And at this point I figure you either agree with me and are going "oh heck yeah! Tell him, Sakura!" or … sharpening the stake and looking for kindling and a match.

I really do like Sasuke as a character. Despite what an absolute horror he was to write through this entire thing. (Freaking drama queen!) And it probably doesn't show with how I've portrayed him in the last two stories. He's been vicious, arrogant dick to pretty much everyone at this point.

Then again, I think I've let him off the lightest of anyone I've ever seen write this particular alternate. I've seen some pretty horrific sentences passed down on his head if he gets dragged back before joining Orochimaru; up to and including lifetime incarceration without parole and a breeding program that he only contributes genetic material to as he's not allowed contact with anyone henceforth.

That's a little bit harsh, I think. And Naruto would hit the roof. There is no way I see Naruto letting that sort of thing happen to his best friend. For all his faults, Naruto is so loyal you can't get him off with a pry bar or the suitable application of explosives.

And yes, I realize defecting to a known enemy of the village is treason, and I know they all became adults at twelve. Um … hi? He's still twelve. _Maybe_ thirteen. And he's just been re-traumetized.

Again, I'm rather surprised no one else seems to conclude that the curse seal was screwing around with his head, or that Itachi's Tsukiyomi made Sasuke cuckoo bird for a while. But the adults in this series are pretty epically useless most of the time, so I can blame them, but can't condemn them completely.

Right. Anyway. What's going on with Sakura? Canon-Sakura would never lay into Sasuke like that, right? And she would never let him be knocked off his pedestal of adulation like that either. I agree. Part of the delay with this was me going "ugh, really, Sakura?" and deciding this needed to be the death knell of her crush on Sasuke. The other part of the delay was Sasuke being a drama queen and refusing to be written. And Iruka refusing to go away when I wanted him to. And then taking over the rest of the fic, and refusing to be written. Grr.

So anyway, this Sakura's got some distance from Sasuke. Sasuke hasn't been there, on her team, saving her on missions, or getting bloodied up because she's pathetic. That's been Kiba and Shino. Sakura is not infatuated with either of them, so she doesn't spend so much time putting on the "I'm a perfect waif of a girl because Sasuke-kun likes delicate girls" act. And yeah, I do think that's an act. Look at her interactions with anyone other than Sasuke, and look at Inner Sakura. Sakura holds herself back in the hope Sasuke will find her attractive. And, like a lot of things girls do thinking they will impress guys, it doesn't work… at least not on the kind of guys they want to impress.

Really, Sasuke's just not that into girls yet. Itachi has his entire attention. Give him a few years to locate his hormones and sanity. At this point, he'd probably find Sakura a lot more interesting/attractive if she could swing a tree at his head.

Also, Sasuke attacked Hinata. Viciously. For a lot of girls – probably _most_girls – there is nothing in this world more guaranteed to bring out the avenging Valkyrie than hurting her friends. That is slightly less stupid than hurting her kids. She Will Hurt You.

Also, it always kind of baffled me that Sakura wasn't utterly pissed off at Sasuke for knocking her out and leaving her on a bench in the middle of the night. I don't know about you, but I would be _furious_. Even if I loved the guy, I would be seriously put out. I ended up chalking that up to the trauma of losing him to Orochimaru, and so many on the retrieval team getting seriously hurt. If she had let herself stop and get angry at him after that, maybe the anger would have chipped away at her resolve to bring him back. So, she didn't let herself. Now he's not gone, he just knocked her out with intent to abandon and then attacked her friend. Sasuke has some groveling to do in the future if he wants to revive his clan with Sakura. And if she's still interested…. that _would_ be telling, now wouldn't it?

Also, yes, I realize opossums are not found in Japan. I just really wanted to use that line. Good thing _Naruto_'s not set in Japan, isn't it?

**Next Time:** Probably will not take nearly so long … and I don't know what it'll be. There's a time skip coming up, but maybe a bit of Sakura and her team is in order. And there's still Naruto's reaction (and the ensuing brawl that will spark. Yes, wince.) So until next time! Whenever I get off my tail and write it. Love ya all!


	7. Influence

**Kat's Notes**: Say goodbye to the K+ rating, everyone, the first scene is going to annihilate it. Also, in true Kat style, this has somehow spawned subplots. And a massive cast. They're still not mine, either, in case anyone was confused on that point. If so, wow are you on the wrong site.

* * *

Dawn brightened the eastern sky with a hint of gold, washing slowly over the sleeping village. At the edge of the forest, four Sound shinobi waited, a basket plastered with paper seals sitting between them.

"Where _is _that little fucker?" one grumbled. "Damn little shit get lost walking down a straight road?"

"Tayuya…"

"You're wondering the same damn thing," Tayuya snapped, folding her arms across her chest, and blowing a lank strand of her pink hair out of her face. She subsided into muttering profanity, and ignoring the other three as they watched the road out of Konoha.

Gunmetal-grey scales slid through the grass, catching Kidomaru's attention an instant before a sinuous shape slipped from the undergrowth and struck. Fangs set in a black maw sunk into his torso, through the cloth and armored mesh of his clothing. Kidomaru swung his arms at the attacking snake, and dispelled it with a smoky pop. A summon.

Clamping one hand to the wound, his other hands flashed through the seals needed to excrete his golden armor, and felt the others around him tense up.

"Find the summoner," Sakon ordered, twisting with a snarl as a woman's voice answered.

"Right here, kids." An unmasked ANBU stepped from the trees, her porcelain mask hanging on her hip instead of on her face, and a large snake twisting sinuously around her waist and shoulders.

A strangled croak jerked Sakon around as his brother abruptly sagged against him. A flash of morning light, and Sakon found a trio of needles tracing a path from the base of his throat to the middle of his chest. He reached for them and stumbled forward as another set lodged into his half-emerged brother.

The basket set between them shattered in a spray of torn weaving and shredded seals, settling around the ANBU, her sword still drawn in her hand. Her other hand pulled the snake from her body and threw it towards Tayuya.

The girl's flute fell to the ground at her feet, as the snake wrapped muscled coils around her, pinning her arms to her body. She glared venomously and managed to spit out, "Mitarashi," before the snake constricted around her, and stole her breath.

Anko strolled through the wreckage towards her, kicking Tayuya's flute away to clatter into the grass at the side of the road as her hands formed the Snake sign. "Didn't think Orochimaru would just wait around hoping Uchiha would stumble in eventually. I'd send one of you back to tell him how spectacularly that failed, but I think I'll send you on ahead to wait for him instead." Anko snapped her hand into the Tiger sign and stabbed forward, a gold-scaled snake lunging down her arm and baring its fangs. A dripping blade jutted from the snake's mouth, impaling Tayuya's throat in a wash of gore, punctuated by a gasping scream with the last of her strangled breath. The constrictor surrounding her tightened its grip, with a sickening crunch as her ribs collapsed.

Anko allowed the golden snake to fall, vanishing with a puff of smoke when it hit the ground, and turned back to the final member of the fallen Sound team. A wall of earth sprang up around her, shrinking the sky above until it closed into a sealed dome. Anko gritted her teeth against the sudden chakra drain that pulled at her.

Jiroubou, the last of the Sound Four fists or hands thudded against the earth dome, and his voice rumbled through, muffled by the hardened dirt standing between them. "You were part of the trash left behind by Orochimaru-sama."

His observation dragged a dark laugh from Anko. "What's that make you and your friends then, fatso? Think I did pretty well for trash."

Killing intent spiked from the boy, and Anko grinned. Pretty well for trash indeed. And she would send bits of them back to that bastard snake in boxes if the Hokage would let her.

"You were not strong enough to server Orochimaru-sama, and now you are trapped, and being drained of your chakra to feed me."

Anko sank back against the dome wall and let her head fall back against it. "Yeah, that's why I'm not here alone."

A second kunoichi flickered into being behind Jiroubou, her hand igniting with the glow of a chakra scalpel as she slashed it across the back of his neck, neatly, and bloodlessly severing his brainstem. Jiroubou jerked once before pitching forward and crashing into his own earth dome.  
With the loss of Jiroubou's chakra, the dome collapsed, pitching Anko backwards as she lost the wall she leaned against. Anko caught her footing and turned to grin at Shizune's flushed face. "Now aren't you glad I dragged you along?"

.oOo.

The lights rigged throughout the underground tunnels cast a harsh, clinical light over everything, even the deep comfort of the bed and its heavy surrounding curtains. The figure within the bed laid with his hands folded on top of the covers. Dark eyes snapped open and faded to a lurid yellow as the man sat up and reached for his face.

The tanned skin tore and sloughed away under his fingers, revealing smoother features and a corpse-like pallor. Discarding the shredded mask of skin, Orochimaru brought his hands up to his face, flexing the fingers and feeling a grim satisfaction to see and feel them working once again.

"It is good to see you well, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said, slipping closer to his master's bed, betraying none of the bubbling fear he felt in his movements or face. This wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. The Sannin's awakening would leave him powerful, and the news was not good.

"Mmm. Where is Uchiha Sasuke?"

Kabuto smothered a wince, and bowed in respect and apology as he answered, "Still in Konoha, my lord. He was discovered by two other genin, and defeated. The boy never made it to the gates, or your waiting servants."

Orochimaru's silence pressed down into the room for several strangling breaths before he spoke again. "And why is that, Kabuto? Why is my chosen vessel still within that village rather than awaiting me here? And where is his escort?"

Kabuto cleared his throat and straightened before answering the question. It had taken a few days work by the Sound-loyal spies to piece together the events that had lead to Uchiha's change of heart. "The four you sent were killed before they realized the Uchiha had been captured. Uchiha Sasuke is now sealed to the confines of the village by Jiraiya. Only Jiraiya, who performed the sealing, and Tsunade know the full details of the seal. Presumably, Hatake Kakashi has also been informed by now. My spies were not able to uncover the details of the seal or how to unlock it yet."

"I see." Orochimaru laced his fingers together. "Then by all means, Kabuto, tell me of these fearsome kunoichi that bested my Uchiha, and stole him away from my Four without them even noticing."

"Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura," Kabuto said, placing a pair of data cards before his lord. "The Hyuuga is part of Team Seven – along with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto – and taught by Hatake Kakashi. She is somewhat proficient in her family's taijutsu style and possesses the Byakugaan, but was defeated by her cousin Neiji during their battle in the Chuunin exam. She was the one to battle and strike down Uchiha Sasuke."

"I recall the Hyuuga," Orochimaru said, eyes narrowing as he dragged a thin finger over the photograph embedded in Kabuto's card. "She did not impress me, but I was more focused on Sasuke-kun at the time. Perhaps there was more to her than a cowering child indicated. The other one?"

"Haruno Sakura. She is from a civilian family with no close shinobi ties, and part of Team Eight, along with Aburame Shino and an Inuzuka Kiba. She has been learning genjutsu under Yuuhi Kurenai and made it to the finals by defeating a Yamanaka kunoichi. The only truly noteworthy thing is she seems to have perfect chakra control, but below average reserves. She fights primarily with genjutsu and low level ninjutsu, She had no skill in taijutsu to speak of upon leaving the Academy, though her performance in Chuunin Exam indicates she has improved slightly since then."

Orochimaru frowned thoughtfully, "Perhaps Sasuke-kun will require more refinement than I expected."

"My lord?"

"Leave it for now, Kabuto. The Hyuuga jyuken is formidable even in inept hands. Sasuke-kun likely didn't take that into consideration when facing the Hyuuga girl." And _that_destroyed a sterling opportunity, and wasted the trouble he had gone through with Uchiha Itachi.

His failed possession of the boy years before had one useful result: he could, with a great deal of concentration, briefly enter and control Itachi and his fearsome doujutsu. It allowed him to keep a sporadic eye on what was going on within Akatsuki when Kabuto's spy network could not; though only a sporadic eye, and always a brief one. The contact was draining in his current state, and it would not do for Itachi to discover the tenuous hold. It was, however, just enough time to seize an opportunity as Itachi locked his younger brother in the Tsukiyomi to fan Sasuke-kun's hatred and spur him into seeking the power offered by the Heaven Seal.

Effort wasted by an arrogant boy and two lucky little girls. Orochimaru slid from his bed, ignoring Kabuto as he retrieved his data cards and secreted them away. "I will need to know the specifics of my old teammate's seal on the boy, Kabuto. Discover it."

Kabuto bowed. "As you wish, Orochimaru-sama."

.oOo.

Iruka shouldered his travel pack, feeling the weight of the few supplies he would need, and the scroll he was assigned to deliver. It was a simple, C-ranked delivery mission that was more befitting a genin team than a lone chuunin, but with the village short-staffed by the invasion, nearly everyone had been pressed into service.

Before he left, however, he had promises to keep, and a few stops to make in the village. He suspected the Hokage was aware of his intentions, as his mission was not time-sensitive, and he would make up the lost time by traveling faster than a typical pack of unruly genin, anyway.

He walked down the road – mostly abandoned at this hour of the morning – and faltered for an instant when he saw the tall, shaggy-haired figure of Jiraiya leaning against a fence along his path. His arms were folded across his chest, and he smiled a bit as he noticed Iruka's reaction. Iruka pulled his composure back to himself, and stomped on the general feeling of unease the other man's presence had sparked.

"Was there something you needed, Jiraiya-sama?"

Jiraiya shrugged and pushed away from the fence. "We're probably going in about the same direction is all. Keeping promises, sensei? Or has Tsunade-hime given you a mission?"

"Both," Iruka answered, cautiously, stepping closer and stopping on the side of the road. "I wanted to check on Hinata and Sakura before I left, and speak to Naruto before he found out about Sasuke as well. It's going to upset him."

"Why don't I walk with you?" Jiraiya said, clamping a massive hand on Iruka's shoulder and steering him back onto the path towards the Hyuuga compound.

Seeing absolutely no way he could refuse, Iruka allowed himself to be herded along in abject confusion. The Sannin had been waiting for him, that much was obvious, but Iruka had no idea _why_.

"Ibiki knows you well."

Iruka started, and gave him a puzzled look, wondering if that was some sort of answer to his confusion. If it was, it wasn't doing a very good job of clearing anything up. "Of course he does. I'm an academy teacher." Jiraiya's silence was expectant and Iruka rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. There wasn't any reason for Jiraiya to know about the evaluations and training. Most shinobi in the village viewed the academy teachers as glorified babysitters. "All academy teachers have bi-monthly evaluations with T&I. Ibiki happens to do mine. Anyone with significant access to shinobi children is monitored for seditious qualities. It …" Iruka dragged in a breath and swallowed before continuing. "It doesn't catch everything, but it lowers the probability of a child with a bloodline limit, or an orphan, going missing."

And children had gone missing in the past. Iruka didn't think he needed to bring up the most horrific example their village had seen. He waited as Jiraiya digested the information, and they walked in silence.

There were more signs of life on the village streets now: people walking along the road, and jumping across the rooftops without any indication of the brief drama played out in the Hokage's office and on Konoha's streets the night before.

"You are unusually well informed on S-class missing nin for a chuunin."

"I was Sasuke's academy teacher." Iruka shrugged. "None of my other students have mortal enemies. Well, except for Naruto, but that's nearly every adult in the village." Jiraiya frowned at that, but Iruka ignored it. Naruto probably hadn't told him much about his treatment by the rest of the village. He didn't much care if the man believed him or not on that point. "I asked the Sandaime to tell me everything he could about Uchiha Itachi. And as for what I told Sasuke last night, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Impassioned speeches about friendship weren't going to sway him, but he's always been unfailingly logical. We just have to hope he'll figure the rest out eventually."

The walls of the Hyuuga compound rose beside the path, and soon, they came to the tall gates set in the center. A Branch member stepped from the shadows and waited in an impassive acknowledgement of their presence.

"Ah, we would like to see Hinata if she's available," Iruka said, casting a glance up at Jiraiya. The Branch member stood silent for a moment before offering them a slight bow, and vanishing back into the shadows beneath the gate. A few minutes later, Hinata appeared, trailing Sakura.

"Good morning, girls," Iruka greeted.

"Has something else happened?" Hinata asked quietly, exchanging a worried look with Sakura. Sakura frowned at the idea and drew in closer to Hinata's side.

Iruka's eyes widened and he held up his hands reassuringly. "No, not at all. I said we'd go talk to Naruto this morning, and it's probably best to do it before he finds out, well … anything from anyone else."

"Me, I'm just stalking the sensei here," Jiraiya grinned. "But Tsunade-hime also wants your team sealed to the Uchiha brat before he gets any bright ideas about breaking his curfew. She'll have my manhood if that happens." He ignored the color tinting the faces of the other three and dug a slender brush and a sealed pot from his pocket. "Arm out, Hyuuga-san. I'll need to see your wrist."

Sakura looked like she wanted to move between her friend and the Sannin, remaining tense as Hinata pulled the sleeve of her dark shirt back and offered her arm. Gone was the heavy coat she had worn before, replaced with a lighter shirt and a new-minted air of confidence. Unhealed bruises from jyuuken strikes also decorated her uncovered arm, but no one commented on them, even to hiss in sympathy.

Jiraiya worked swiftly, drawing traceries of ink across Hinata's pale wrist with brushes of ink. Once finished, he channeled a burst of chakra into the seal, causing Hinata to blink as the energy frizzled along her nerve endings, and the markings of the seal faded from stark red-black to a pale sheen of violet iridescence. Sakura leaned over her shoulder, looking at the mark curiously as Hinata held it up in front of her face. Smiling suddenly, she offered a polite bow to Jiraiya. "Thank you, Jiraiya-sama. Is … is Sasuke-kun already sealed?"

Jiraiya nodded as he stowed the brush and ink pot away. "He has been for hours. That seal's one of the anchors, so he's definitely not giving you any repeat performances of last night. I'll show you how it's released later."

Sakura muttered something under her breath, quieting when Hinata looked back at her. "Nothing. I guess you're going to visit Sasuke next? Try to start talking some sort of sense into his stubborn head?"

"I … I think we should explain things to Naruto-kun next," Hinata said, pushing her fingers together in a sudden burst of nerves, and looking to the two older shinobi. "Unless you've already told h… him?"

"Not yet, Hinata-kun. I wanted to talk to both him and Sasuke today."

"Thanks for having me over, Hinata," Sakura told her. "And for … well, rescuing me and kicking the crap out of Sasuke-kun." Hinata blushed and started stammering, cutting off with a squeak as Sakura pulled her into brief hug. "Go talk to Naruto. Straighten this mess out."

"You could come," Hinata suggested, but was met with a quick shake of Sakura's head.

"I think I'll head home. You go tell Naruto how much you rocked! You deserve it. And you're too nice for your own good, so you'll probably go talk to Sasuke after that. I … still feel like yelling at him. That won't help anything."

Hinata looked torn between being startled and being sad at that. "Sakura-chan …"

Sakura waved her off, her eyes looked suspiciously glassy, but no one commented on it. "I love him, right? So I'll … I'll get over this. Just not now, okay? I'll talk to Sasuke-kun later. Just not right now. I'm still mad at him."

Hinata stared at her consideringly for a long moment before she nodded her acceptance. "Can … can you tell father where I've gone? Neji-kun can walk you home."

Sakura started to protest, only to be interrupted gently.

"It's … only polite. I'm sure father will insist anyway."

"… Fine," Sakura sighed. "Good luck with your idiots."

"Sakura-chan," Hinata chided, laugher dancing behind her tone. Sakura managed a small smile before turning and walking back into the Hyuuga compound.

.oOo.

The door Iruka brought them to was a bit shabby; peeling paint and wash-worn stains decorated it. Iruka led the way, though Jiraiya followed without really following. Hinata walked along between the two, fidgeting when they finally stopped. At Naruto-kun's door. Months of interaction _had _quieted the worst of her butterflies, though the entire colony still took flight the moment he smiled at her. Or spoke to her outside of combat. Or looked at her.

Jiraiya reached past Iruka and hammered a fist against the door, triggering a cascade of thuds and crashes in the room beyond. Hinata stopped just short of activating her Byakugaan to look beyond the wood and plaster to make sure none of the racket had been Naruto. It sounded painful.

The door opened a moment later, revealing a tousled Naruto, his spiky hair poking from beneath a night cap, and a confused expression twisting up his whiskered face. "Ero-sennin? Iruka-sensei? Hinata-chan?" he blinked at them and craned his neck to look behind the trio. "Is teme here too?"

"Ah, no." Iruka reached out and pulled the frog-shaped night cap from Naruto's head and handed it to him. "Naruto, can we come in?"

"If you want to," Naruto answered, dubious and still clearly confused. He stepped back from the door and pulled it wider. Hinata squashed the urge to look around in abject curiosity as she trailed in behind the two older men.

"Arm out, brat," Jiraiya ordered, pulling his ink and brush out and waving Naruto over to stand in front of him.

"What?" Naruto stepped back, hiding his arms behind his back as his eyes narrowed. The other two shuffled around, making room for movement in the crowded apartment, and looking to Jiraiya to see what he was going to do.

"I need to ink a seal onto you," Jiraiya said. "Hinata-chan here has already gone through it, and came out just fine." He pointed the brush towards Hinata, who shyly held up her arm and tugged the sleeve of her coat down to show the seal etched over her wrist. "So has your other teammate: the Uchiha. You're next."

"So, what, is this like some sort of special Team Seven togetherness seal? Are we going to be able to find each other all over the village now or something?"

"Considering everything that's happened to your team over the last few days, that might not be a bad idea," Iruka said, dryly.

"They're anchor seals," Jiraya said, finishing the last whorls with a flourish and setting his brush aside. "Kakashi's getting one too as soon as he gets back from his mission." Jiraiya summoned chakra to his hand and slapped it over the inked seal, activating it. A flash of blue light erupted from under Jiraiya's hand and Naruto yelped, but couldn't pull his hand out of the larger man's grip until the flare faded and Jiraiya released him. Naruto hugged his hand to his chest for a moment before lifting his sealed wrist up to look at it.

"So … what're we anchoring?"

"Sasuke-kun. It seals Sasuke-kun to the village." Hinata smoothed the arm of her coat over the seal to cover it, and rubbed at it unconsciously through the material.

Naruto's face screwed up in confusion and he scratched at his hair as he turned to Hinata. "Why're we sealing Teme to the village?"

Iruka's mouth thinned into a line, but softened a moment later as he nodded to Hinata. "Why don't you tell Naruto what happened last night, Hinata."

"Thought you spent the night with Sakura-chan," Naruto said, still confused. "Should she be here?"

"Sa... Sakura-chan didn't want to," Hinata told him. "She … she said it would only make things worse if she …. yelled at Sasuke-kun again."

"Sakura-chan yelled at Sasuke?" Naruto repeated, trying to wrap his mind around that idea and failing. Sakura yelled at _him_plenty, but she'd never so much as raised her voice to Sasuke.

"She was … defending me," Hinata admitted, her fingers pressing together nervously as she refused to meet his eyes. "Sasuke … he …" she dragged in a breath and looked up, steeling herself before she continued in a rush. "Sasuke-kun tried to abandon the village last night. He almost … Sakura … she couldn't sleep, and went for a walk. She intercepted him, and he told her what he was doing. I followed her … I was … _worried_. She was so upset, and I saw Sasuke knock her out. He said he was going to Orochimaru. And … and I … I couldn't …"

She trailed off and chewed on her bottom lip, starting when Iruka placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. "Do you want me to finish with what I know, Hinata-kun?"

Hinata looked torn for a moment, almost giving into relief, before she straightened and shook her head. "Sasuke tried to leave. I challenged him, and he attacked me. He had already attacked Sakura. I stopped him. We, Sakura and I, took him to Iruka-sensei, who brought us to the Hokage. She … Hokage-sama sentenced him to …" Hinata's courage deflated and she looked away from Naruto, who was staring at her in wide-eyed silence.

"Sasuke isn't allowed to leave the village for the foreseeable future," Iruka finished for her. "And he won't be able to leave until you and the other members of Team Seven think he's stable."

"Sasuke isn't allowed to leave the village," Iruka finished for her. "And he won't be able to leave until you and the other members of Team Seven think he's stable."

Naruto stood quiet, digesting the information for a moment before he spoke to Hinata. "You beat Sasuke in a fight, didn't you? To keep him here, so he couldn't run off and join that creepy snake guy."

Hinata flushed, and pushed her fingers together, but eventually nodded. Naruto smiled, blindingly even if it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Thanks, Hinata-chan." Hinata squeaked intelligibly, and Naruto chuckled, before genuinely brightening. "Hey, does this mean Neji's next?"

Hinata's pale eyes snapped up, and she looked scandalized. "N… Naruto-kun! No!" She blushed darker under his smile and looked away again, voice softening as she added, "But father was p … pleased."

"Damn straight your dad should be pleased. You're awesome, Hinata-chan." Naruto nodded happily, before determination squared his stance and he turned to Jiraiya and Iruka. "I want to see him."

"Ah, that …" Iruka cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Naruto, I'm not sure that's the best idea right now…" Iruka started as Jiraiya interrupted him.

"Eh, what's the worst that could happen, sensei?"

"I can think of several things," Iruka said, eyeing the Sannin darkly. "Jiraiya-sama …"

"I'll keep an eye on him," Jiraiya promised, shooing the younger man out the door with one hand. "Don't you have a mission you're supposed to be headed out on, sensei?"

Iruka drew up short, and looked torn for a moment before sighing. The mission could wait, but it would also only take a few hours to complete, and the sooner done the longer he could spend in the village. Particularly with two students that most needed an adult that didn't treat them like a dull kunai. "Please don't let them hurt each other, Jiraiya-sama."

"I'll make sure there's not too much damage, sensei."

Iruka glared at him. "That's not the same thing."

Jiraiya grinned at him. "No, but it's the closest you'll get with those two."

* * *

**Kat's Notes**: And it didn't take me months and months and months this time! Seriously, though, I am really touched by the positive feedback I've gotten on this so far. Hope you're still enjoying it! Thanks for reading!


	8. Cusp

**Kat's Notes**: Minor timeline adjustment for the first scene (and boy, will I be glad when the anime/manga timeline just ceases to matter after this chapter.) Shino is supposed to be on a mission with his father right now. Just assume he leaves on it a few hours after this scene, but had part of the morning free.

Also, I love Team 8. Why have I not written more Team 8 for this fic?

* * *

"How could I be so … useless." Sakura shoved a renegade lock of hair out of her face as she stomped past her teammates, turned on her heel, and stormed across their path again. Kiba silently swore he wouldn't ask next time. Even if Hinata asked him to. As far as he was concerned, Hinata owed the rest of Team Eight for foisting Sakura on them without warning not to ask how her sleepover went. It went straight to the Hokage, if Sakura's rant was to be believed.

Shino sat impassively on his heels, ignoring their female teammate's wrath, and communing with his bugs. Or listening to Sakura shriek. Or just spacing out.

The sun beat down on them all with a drowsy, baking heat, and Kiba bit back a yawn. It would only distract Sakura enough she would probably focus on _him_, and the beating she gave Ino during the Chuunin Exam would probably pale in comparison if she did. She hadn't been even close to furious with the other kunoichi during the exam.

Akamaru didn't have the same sense of self-preservation - or was just more secure on his place in their teammate's good graces - and yawned widely, tongue lolling out of his mouth before he settled his chin down on his paws.

"No wonder I wasn't promoted."

"Sakura, the only one promoted was Shikamaru," Kiba said, tuning back in and sighing at the despondency in her voice. Her eyes snapped up and she rounded on him.

"I was completely useless, Kiba," Sakura hissed. "Sasuke just tapped me on the neck and I was _down_. If Hinata hadn't followed me, then he …" Sakura choked up, and Kiba threw a panicky glance at Shino. She was going to cry, and he didn't know what to do with a sobbing Sakura; other than to hunt down Uchiha and blackmail Shino into helping him beat the bastard into paste.

"Uchiha Sasuke would have left the village, and likely become a missing nin and future host for Orochimaru," Shino said, pushing himself to his feet. "But he did not. And now, he cannot leave, or be removed, from the village without his teammates and the Hokage's authorization."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "That's not helping, Shino."

A single eyebrow quirked up over Shino's dark glasses, soundlessly asking 'is it not?'

"Shino means you did good," Kiba told her. "And there isn't any shame in needing backup from your pack." Kiba shrugged, reaching over to scratch Akamaru's head as the puppy yipped in agreement. "Hinata's your friend. She's got your back when we aren't there."

"The hive is weak when only one soldier defends it," Shino agreed with a nod. He reached down and hauled Kiba to his feet, ignoring the other boy's protest at the manhandling. "You, even indirectly, preserved something of value to the village. You are not useless."

"I was against Sasuke," Sakura grumbled, looking mostly mollified from her earlier fury, but still surly.

"Then train so you will not be in the future. Though, if you wish to defeat an Uchiha, you will need to train something other than genjutsu. The Sharingan sees through them easily."

"And your taijutsu kind of sucks," Kiba added, cringing when Sakura glared at thim. "It does! It's not your best skill!"

"Locking either of us into a genjutsu has been the most efficient way to win up until now." Shino stepped between her and Kiba, blocking them from attacking or being attacked. "And none of us, to this point, have considered that we may one day need to fight an ally. This is an oversight."

Sakura and Kiba fell backwards a step, eyes widening at the idea. "Whoa, Shino!" Kiba protested. "I didn't mean anything like that! Not every other shinobi in Konoha's as batshit as Sasuke! I just meant Sakura should start sparring with us more, and stop cheating with genjustu when she does!"

"Kiba!"

Shino sighed at them and adjusted the sunglasses that slid down his nose. "As Sakura does not have a clan to learn from, she should find a second teacher, and develop a speciality in addition to genjutsu."

"Kurenai-sensei is our teacher!" Sakura protested. "I can't find another one!"

"Why not? Not to replace Kurenai-sensei," Kiba quickly added, then pointed between himself and Shino. "Shino's right. We have other teachers in our clans. Mom and Hana train me. And Shino's dad works with him. Maybe Kurenai-sensei will have someone she thinks you should work with that's not a genjutsu specialist. And beating down Sasuke can be your goal!"

Sakura hesitated, before drawing in a deep breath and nodding. "Do you think Kurenai-sensei will help me?"

"Sure!" Kiba assured her, echoed by an enthusiastic bark from Akamaru. "And we will too. Right, Shino?"

Shino answered with a solemn nod, and turned away from them to walk towards the targets set up on the far side of the training field.

"Guess that's our cue," Sakura said, reaching to give Akamaru one more scratch behind the ears before she turned and jogged after her teammate.

.oOo.

The compound walls, splashed with graffiti scrawled over fading red and white paint, were looking worse for the weather and wear. Sasuke ignored the words and pushed through the tall gates as the hinges groaned in protest.

He hated coming here; had taken a place outside of the compound walls specifically because he hated facing the ghosts of silence where there should be laughter and _life_. But right then, it was the right thing to do.

He shoved the shrine door aside, putting more muscle into it when it protested and groaned, the wood warped inside its tracks from years of neglect. Inside was shadowy and filled with a fine layer of undisturbed dust. At first he had avoided the shadowy confines of the Uchiha shrine because the reminders that they were _dead_ – all dead except for the final one he had sworn to kill – was too painful. It was easier to face only their ghosts in his memories.

For the past several months it had been his neglect had been due to distraction. Team Seven, with its false sense of camaraderie, and even – almost – friendship had lured him away from his duty and his sense of vengeance. Itachi had _corrected_ that mistake. And now he had time for the ghosts.

He hoped it wouldn't be very much time. He had a staggeringly long way to go before he could stand in front of that man and survive, let alone avenge the Uchiha. But he would find a way. As ANBU, probably, but he would find a way. Sasuke's hand crept up to where the curse mark slumbered against his skin, its power caged by Jiraiya's seals. And, Orochimaru could still be a stepping stone to the power he needed later on.

He could draw the Snake Sannin into battle, and the Sharingan could copy every technique used during the fight. He could do the same with every powerful shinobi he had to until he had enough power to destroy Itachi. In some ways, this appealed to Sasuke more than apprenticing himself to the man. He was almost guaranteed Orochimaru – and anyone else – would use lethal strikes in a battle that he wouldn't teach a student.

Sasuke moved further into the shrine, trailing one hand along the wall until he found a switch. Light guttered into existence when he flipped it, casting strange, shadows throughout the room from the mismatch of working and burnt out bulbs. Sasuke frowned up at them, noting one more thing to attend to before his training as ANBU began. He doubted Kakashi would show any patience with sentiment for the fallen once the training began.

A relatively tiny shrine was tucked out of the way, with the photos of his parents, and the months-old ashes of two sticks of incense. He ignored the torn slashed edge of the photo, the place where Itachi would have stood, and knelt briefly, Sasuke setting a new set of sticks to one side of it, ready to be used.

Rising, Sasuke took a final look around the Uchiha family shrine and squared his shoulders, forcing any taint of emotion off of his face. He was turning the page with this, and that meant it needed to be ready to be turned. And soon, the village would remember why … and this was far too many angsty words just to say he was going to clean house, then lock it up until he felt worthy to face his family again.

.oOo.

"There you are!" Naruto's shrill voice cut into the silence of the shrine with a tone just below a shriek, forcing Sasuke to stomp on the instinctive desire to jump. He wouldn't give the dobe that satisfaction. Nor would he give it to the dobe's ever-present shadow that lurked just behind.

Sasuke lit the incense he was holding with a match and watched the grey smoke curl up into the still air, making swirls as he set it into the holder before his parents' shrine. The lights of the shrine burned clear now, replaced and cleaned of any nesting spiders. The fine layer of dust over the shrine's interior had been cleared away, much of it still cling to Sasuke's clothes … and skin, and hair.

"Oi, teme!" Naruto called, trying to catch his attention. Sasuke ignored him. Hinata drifted in behind the blond, silent as a ghost, and fidgeting almost imperceptibly as she watched him. Sasuke felt a curl of irritation with her, and shifted his eyes deliberately away. He still saw her bite her lip and drop her eyes. Naruto rolled his eyes. "Teme, you cannot still be pissed that Hinata-chan kicked your ass. I thought you wanted her to get better."

Sasuke paused, before answering with a noncommital grunt. He pushed past his teammates and walked out of the shrine, into the warm light of a sunny day. _Good_, he thought bitterly. Anything was better than rain. Naruto's squawk of protest followed him out.

"Well hey, she got better!" Rushed footsteps - one heavy, the other light - sounded behind Sasuke as he walked towards the tori gate marking the entrance to the shrine. "She's never won a spar against you, Teme. We should be celebrating how awesome Hinata-chan is. And that you couldn't do something as stupid as ditching all of us to go to that creepy snake guy."

"What do you know about it?" Sasuke muttered under his breath, clamping down on his temper, and forcing himself to leave the curse mark alone, as it flared to life beneath his skin. He could feel the mark's dark power ram into the old man's seal, and the clash threaded his nerves with electricity.

"I know plenty! We're Team Seven, right?" Naruto's hand came down to clamp onto Sasuke's shoulders. The blunt edges of Sasuke's fingernails bit into his palms as his hands clenched at the unwanted contact.

"That wasn't why she stopped me." Sasuke gritted out, frustrated by Naruto's obliviousness. Most of the time he ignored it, and sometimes the subtle maneuverings between his eartswhile teammates was even somewhat entertaining. Hinata, at least, had enough sense to never let her painfully obvious obsession get in the way during missions or training, and Naruto was just dumb. At the moment though … it bothered him. And Sasuke wasn't too keen to examine the root of that annoyance too deeply.

"Sasuke-kun …." Hinata started, only to flinch when he turned on her, eyes flat and dark.

"Why are you even here?"

Her pale eyes dropped away from him and Sasuke snorted distainfully. "What, Hinata, no Sakura to defend, so now you're back to shrinking away from the slightest hint of confrontation? Predictable. I think I preferred you when you were kicking my ass last night."

"Oi, teme! Leave her alone!" Naruto shouted, pushing between them, and letting Hinata hide behind him. "And what the hell are you talking about?"

"It wasn't for me, it was for you!" Sasuke lashed out. "So stuff it, Naruto. We're not a team if it's always going to be you _two _and me on the side!"

Silence echoed between them, making their disjointed breathing sound unnaturally loud, until Sasuke broke the tableau by walking away. Naruto gaped after him for a long moment, trying to piece together everything in some way that made any sense.

Sasuke didn't feel like he was part of Team Seven? They'd never left him out of anything! Naruto had even been doing his best to act normal, trying to make Sasuke talk to them instead of locking down like always did. The teme would hide behind insults and icy silence before one, or both, of them launched into the first physical attack. Naruto knew it scared Hinata, and disappointed Kakashi. However, most of the time he didn't know how to get through to Sasuke, and attacking the jerk at least caught his attention. This time, though, he would try talking.

"It's never been us against you, Teme," Naruto told him. "We're a team."

Sasuke snorted derisively and kept walking. Naruto jogged forward, breaking the hold Hinata had on the back of his jacket, and clamped a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke stilled, surprised at the sudden contact, and Naruto hauled on his shoulder, turning him back to face the other two. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he threw Naruto's hand off of him with a quick jerk before catching Naruto's extended wrist and tossing the shorter boy over his shoulder in a text-book flawless throw.

Naruto yelped as he tumbled over his teammate and crashed into the gravel of the shrine path. He rolled to his feet, anger sparking deep in his stomach, and threw himself at Sasuke, impacting and tossing the other boy off his feet in a full body-check. The two hit the ground with bruising force, and rolled, fists flying; wildly on Naruto's part and with better form on Sasuke's.

Hinata lurched forward, her hands forming the seals to activate her Byakuugan. The world flared into clarity around her, and her teammates' chakra pathways pulsed with swells of energy traced through their bodies. Chakra coated her hands in a pale glow as she ran forward, muscles sliding into trained the strikes of her family style.

She had defeated Sasuke once before, her father had praised her, and even her sister and cousin had looked surprised-but-pleased at the news. She had been useful. She had stopped Team Seven from splintering with distance and betrayal. They would patch the rest of it up. And she would make this second betrayal of trust up to Sasuke. But first, she moved to stop their attacks. Even striking Naruto-kun was worth that. And this time, she would do it for _both_ of them.

Sasuke had pulled himself to his feet more quickly than Naruto, and shifted out of her path, cognizant of the threat she presented. His dark eyes lost some of their icy indifference as he looked at her, and Hinata forced herself to carry through without pausing for the apology she so wanted to give him. She pulled more chakra into her hands, aiming for the tenketsu point in his wrist. A strike there would disable Sasuke's ninjitsu, and if he left her undamaged, or even lightly damaged, she could continue on to Naruto-kun's unprotected back. Surely he - both hes - would forgive her interfering. She hoped.

Then Kakashi appeared behind her, and ducked to wrap his arms around her waist. He hoisted her easily off her feet before forming a hand sign of his own that yanked them both into a teleportation jutsu.

Hinata felt the world spin for an instant before they reappeared with a crunch of rooftop gravel, her still dangling from Kakashi's arms. Her sensei set her on her feet gently, keeping his grip until she stood stably on her own, and straightened.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She turned to him, eyes still luminous with her bloodline limit. "We have to stop them! Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san will hurt each other!"

"Oh probably," Kakashi smiled at her, and reached out to pat her on the head, before. "But they'll heal just fine, Hinata. They've done this before."

"No, they haven't!" Hinata insisted, her normally soft voice cracking with worry. "Sasuke-san tried to leave the village! Naruto-kun …"

"Isn't doing anything more drastic than trying to beat sense into the other brat," a third spectator said from beside them. Hinata looked sideways and up to where Jiraiya stood next to Kakashi, his arms folded into his sleeves. "The Uchiha brat can take care of himself even with the trouble he's currently in, and can't escalate it. If Naruto does, then we'll step in and stop them. Don't worry, Hyuuga-sama, we're keeping an eye on them."

Hinata pressed her fingers together in continued worry and looked down to where a crack of splintered wood echoed in the near distance, marking where her teammates were brawling. She wanted to leap back down into the fray, to stop them and try to mend everything, but had the feeling that Kakashi would just scoop her back up to safety, or order her to go home entirely.

"_What_ is going on here?"

Hinata started at the question, and twisted to see the Hokage stalking towards them, two of her ANBU flickering into view behind her.

Kakashi tilted his head back and smiled a greeting, along with a small wave. "Just a discussion between teammates, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade tapped the fingers of one hand against her opposite elbow, her look of displeasure sharpening into a glare at Kakashi's explanation.

"Dango, Tsunade-hime?" Jiraiya held up a stick in front of her nose, and Hinata caught a breath of its sticky sweetness in the breeze. She had not noticed that there before, but a small box of dango sat innocently between her sensei and the Sannin. Tsunade unfolded her arms, pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand and pointed at the brawl below them with the other.

"Jiraiya, Kakashi," she said, just short of growling at them. "One of those boys has absolutely no chakra, and the other has entirely too much. You are both aware of that, I assume."

Hinata squeaked, hands flying to her mouth and she tensed, moving to leap down and force her teammates apart, until Kakashi's hand clamped back down on her shoulder. "They're not going to kill each other, Hinata-chan. Settle down."

"_Kakashi_," Tsunade growled, her arms folding beneath her chest and her foot tapping. "Whether they're likely to kill each _other _is up for debate. But neither of you saw fit to stop them from destroying parts of my village?"

"They're keeping it to the Uchiha district," Kakashi shrugged and tugged his sleeve down to reveal a seal inked on the inside of his wrist. "And there's no point telling them to take it outside. Naruto won't escalate it unless Sasuke does."

A distant crack punctuated his statement, and Naruto tore through a paper screen below them, leaving a gaping hole, and revealing Sasuke as he straightened from the throw.

"Stop them." Tsunade stabbed a fingernail towards the brawl, pinning both Jiraiya and Kakashi with flint-like amber eyes. "_Now_."

Naruto groaned and rolled out of the rubble he had landed in, and a flare of chakra erupted around him before any of the watchers could move. Sasuke stepped into the open and subtly braced himself, seeing a faint glow of red chakra start to bubble around Naruto's form. The mood on the rooftop darkened abruptly, and Hinata found herself alone with the two ANBU guards as the older nin vanished from beside her.

The Hokage reached the two genin just as Naruto lunged at Sasuke, his nails suspiciously sharp, and snagged him mid-leap. Naruto gagged as the hand wrapped in his jumpsuit's wide collar yanked him back, and twisted with a yelp as Tsunade strode forward, dragging her hapless prisoner behind. She reached Sasuke in a handful of steps, and he ducked out of her way, but not fast enough. Her free hand struck out, digging into the back of his shirt and yanking him off of his feet.

The two boys grunted as she wrapped their heads together and hoisted them into the air, dangling both by the scruff of their necks. "That is enough." She gave them both a firm shake before turning and tossing them at Jiraiya and Kakashi to catch. The two men caught the twelve-year-olds and steadied them, hands wrapping around their shoulders to keep them in place between them and the irritated Hokage.

She folded her arms beneath her chest and regarded all four with narrowed eyes. "I don't care which one of you started it," she told them without preamble. "Uchiha Sasuke, you are already on thin ice with me, and with the Council. I expect better of you if you ever wish to have your chakra restored. Uzumaki Naruto, attacking a fellow shinobi of the Leaf is absolutely unacceptable. Particularly _your teammate_," she stressed, "when he is unable to defend himself properly."

Sasuke looked sullen at this and looked away, shoving his hands into his pockets. Naruto just looked confused, and Tsunade sighed at him. "As punishment, Uchiha Sasuke's chakra has been sealed, and he is being forced to stay in the village until you, your sensei, the Hyuuga girl, and myself decide he can be safely allowed outside of it." Naruto squinted at her, clearly still not understanding, and Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Without chakra, he's really not a match for you, brat. You could have hurt him."

Comprehension began to dawn in Naruto's eyes, and they widened. "Teme was doing fine! And why did you tell me, you jerk?!" he demanded, rounding on Sasuke.

"Hn," Sasuke looked away from everyone, a clear refusal to answer further.

"Hm," Tsunade regarded them closely for a few moments before shaking her head. "Well, you can discuss it while you clean up this mess. Not you," she snapped, halting Hinata, who was creeping forward to stand with her teammates. "They made this mess, and they can clean it up."

.oOo.

"Hey, Teme?"

Sasuke's eyebrows slanted down a moment before he drove the pole of his shovel into Naruto's side. The clone dispelled with a pop, and the smudged scroll in the clone's hands dropped to the debris-strewen ground. Sasuke snorted and reached down to pick the scroll up. The Hokage's orders to clean up the mess made of the Uchiha shrine and its surrounding buildings went faster with Naruto's clone army, but it didn't make Naruto any less of an idiot in Sasuke's opinion.

Moments later, Naruto - presumably the real one this time - came storming up, bristling with irritation. "What the hell, teme?"

"Come talk to me yourself next time," Sasuke told him blithely, ignoring Naruto's growl and opening the scroll. Naruto was an idiot, but the scroll had the uchiwa fan sealing it, meaning it might be important. At least it was a clan document, and that made it worth reading.

"This …" Sasuke trailed off and his eyes scanned over the scroll again, pulling it open further. Naruto watched what little color Sasuke had in his face drain, and his fingers tighten almost painfully around the wood edges, crushing the thin paper. "Where did you find this?"

"Over there," Naruto pointed behind him. "It had one of your drooling pokeballs on it, and looked like it was maybe important? Thought you'd appreciate having it." Naruto shrugged, and jumped back with a yelp as Sasuke stalked past him, the scroll dropping to the rubble behind him. "Oi! Teme!" Naruto stumbled into action and scooped up the abandoned scroll before he hurried after Sasuke. When Sasuke continued to ignore him and stalk for the compound gate, Naruto reached out to grab the other boy's shoulder.

Sasuke turned on him, hand poised for a gut strike that missed as Naruto dodged. "I just want to know what's pissed you off _this time_," Naruto shouted, exasperated. "And where are you _going_?"

That brought Sasuke up short and cracked through the haze of anger as he realized he didn't know. He was just getting away … away from the compound and its whispering ghosts, and the unnerving bone-deep weakness of his locked chakra, and away from the scroll and the words scratched across it and sealed mockingly with the symbol of his clan. And all of these things seemed intent on following him.

"It's a suicide note," Sasuke said, looking anywhere but at the object itself.

Naruto's face screwed up a bit and he lifted the scroll up for a better look. "Creepy."

Sasuke growled under his breath and snatched it out of Naruto's grip. "Written by my brother." The edges of the paper were tearing under the strain of Sasuke's grip.

Naruto scratched at his hair, nose wrinkled in confusion at Sasuke. "You swore vengeance on a guy that already killed himself?"

"Dobe," Sasuke muttered under his breath. "My brother _isn't _dead."

"But he wrote a suicide note..." Naruto said, leaning precariously over Sasuke's shoulder to see the paper better. "You're sure you didn't write it? Y'know … wishful thinking?"

Sasuke sidestepped and dragged Naruto off balance, ignoring the other's shouted protest, and the heavy thud as Naruto crashed into the ground. Sasuke dropped the crumpled scroll, bouncing it off Naruto's head as he walked away. "Whatever."

* * *

**Kat's Notes**: so, after a really, really long hiatus, I am back. And I even have the next chapter almost written. After that, time skipping! Sort of. Eh, you'll see. So, if you've been hanging in there, and suddenly saw this show up like the Ghost of Fics Long Past, welcome back! If you're new to my special brand of insanity, welcome! I should be back... oh, next weekend, with the next chapter. Just gotta go bludgeon Sasuke into cooperating with me.

... most of the delays seem to be Sasuke-related. Huh. Drama queen.


	9. Sensei

**Sensei**

Sakura flopped across Hinata's bed with a tired whump, drawing a concerned sigh from the bed's owner. Sakura ignored her in favor of pressing her face into blankets and enjoying the bonelessness of not moving. The bed dipped as Hinata sat next to her and ran a comforting hand down her back, a soft flare of chakra at her fingertips probed at Sakura's tenketsu as they passed, freeing bits of blocked chakra and loosening the muscles as she went.

"You're the one that should be the medic-nin," Sakura said, though it came out muffled and probably indecipherable. Still, Hinata giggled in response and shook her head.

"You are training too hard."

"You're not one to talk."

Hinata sighed at the stubborn denial in Sakura's voice. "Kakashi-sensei has been very busy with Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun says Jiraiya-sama is taking him from the village on a journey soon," her breath amazingly didn't hitch at that. She didn'twant Naruto to leave, but she also couldn't begrudge him training with Jiraiya. It was too important to Naruto's dreams, and she wouldn't stand in the way of those. Naruto didn't have any reason to stay with her anyway. "I am training with my father and Neiji-kun. Which I have always done."

"You're training now, not just getting beaten up by them," Sakura muttered petulantly. Hinata ignored her and talked over her protest.

"You are training genjutsu with Kurenai-san, working at the hospital, and training daily with your team."

Sakura shifted her face out of the blankets so she could breathe better. "Kiba's sorry he asked for that last one."

"Because you are also training with the Hokage and with me." Hinata dug a bit deeper at a particularly sluggish chakra point, and Sakura yelped. "When was the last time you saw your parents?"

"This morning," Sakura sighed. "I had breakfast with them before training with Tsunade-shishou. I sleep, Hinata, and I can handle this. Tsunade-sama agreed to train me, and my taijutsu still sucks, and there's still so much genjutsu to learn if … I can handle it, okay? I have to."

Hinata sighed, and her posture slumped slightly. "I know you can, Sakura-chan. I just worry. You're… obsessed. With catching up "

Sakura rolled away from her and sat up and pulled Hinata into a reassuring hug. "I'm not Sasuke." She felt some of the tension in Hinata release. "But I'm not going to give up either."

.oOo.

Naruto hitched his travel pack better on his shoulder as he walked and patted the inner pocket of his jacket to check on the scroll tucked inside. It was a little rumpled from Sasuke's treatment, but Naruto didn't want to just throw it away. It was weird, and something Sasuke-teme never wanted to talk about. Not that the bastard _ever_talked. Learning to interpret Sasuke was like learning how to carry on a conversation with a rock. A brooding, snarky-at-best, rock.

Also, he kind of wondered why Sasuke's crazy older brother had written a suicide note and then killed everyone _else_. Other than being crazy and dangerous, anyway. Maybe he had suicide notes backwards somehow, but it still didn't make any sense, and Naruto didn't have time to dig too deep.

He could show the scroll to Jiraiya, but Naruto didn't think there was much the pervy sage could do about it when they wouldn't be sticking around in Konoha. He didn't even know if the old man knew much about Sasuke's messed up brother to begin with. That left him with either ignoring it, like Sasuke seemed determined to, or turning it over to someone who could figure it out instead.

A grin stole over his whiskered face as the memorial stone came into light and the lanky form of Kakashi stood in front of it. "Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi looked up, curiosity in his visible eye as Naruto approached. Naruto dug around in his jacket until his fingers closed around the scroll, and he pulled it out and offered it to the jounin. "We found this when we were cleaning up the mess in Sasuke-teme's compound."

"And Sasuke's all right with you taking documents from the Uchiha compound?" Kakashi asked, taking the scroll, curious despite himself.

Naruto dropped his hand back down and shrugged. "Teme didn't want anything to do with it, so I figured he wouldn't care if I kept it. Documents are things you write important stuff like jutsu and reports, right? It's not one of those. It's a suicide note."

Kakashi didn't react beyond looking from the note to Naruto, his visible eye mild and borderline uninterested as he waited for the boy to continue. When Naruto didn't after several moments of silence, Kakashi shook the unopened scroll. "Well, I think I can see why Sasuke didn't want to read it, Naruto. Why bring it to me?"

"Well, Teme's brother wrote it," Naruto explained, folding his arms behind his head. "And he's not dead. I know Itachi's supposed to be crazy, but it still seemed kind of weird."

"Ah," Kakashi unrolled the scroll and red over it, before rolling it back up and tapping it against his other hand. "Well, you're right that it's strange. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Do?" Naruto thought about that for a moment and then sighed. "I don't know. But I can't do anything about it because Ero-sennin's taking me training, and you keep telling us to look underneath the underneath. And it seemed weird enough it might be important."

"Hm." Kakashi tucked the scroll out of sight and pulled his ever-present companion volume of Icha Icha out of his weapons pouch. "I'll look into it for you, Naruto, but Itachi is dangerously violent, so that might be all I find: that he went insane before the massacre, and didn't expect to survive it."

"Thanks, sensei." Naruto grinned, relieved and reassured that Kakashi would find something if there was anything to be found. Assuming Kakashi-sensei didn't get distracted by rescuing a cat or helping an old lady across the street or something. "I've got to go meet Ero-sennin at the gate. We're heading out this morning!"

Kakashi's visible eye crinkled into a smile and he reached out to tousle Naruto's spiky blond hair. "Write to your teammates and remember to eat something other than ramen, then."

"Sure, sensei."

.oOo.

The early morning sun was well on its way to baking the main road leading in and out of Konoha. A pair of his ANBU minders were loitering nearby; being obviously not obvious as they kept an eye on him. They were probably only there because Kakashi wasn't, and because Sasuke was close enough to the village gate to see it. He wasn't sure he could get past the gates on his own even if he tried. He hadn't been left alone long enough to test the seals inked on him by Jiraiya yet.

Beneath a tree off to one side the seal master himself stood, a large scroll strapped beneath his shoulders, and a travel sack at his feet. He was waiting for the dobe, and they didn't have long to wait before Naruto came walking down the road, waving at Jiraiya when he spotted him. Jiraiya scooped up his sack as Naruto joined him, and Sasuke took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows. The dobe looked surprised by his appearance; the sannin did not.

Sasuke approached them steadily, keeping his outward demeanor calm and emotionless – uncaring and aloof – even if he could feel threads of uncertainty and worry and something that felt disturbingly like desperate panic roiling beneath the façade. He had to do this. There were too few people who could face down Itachi, and even fewer that understood his need for greater power. Jiraiya probably wasn't one of those that understood, and Sasuke's first choice of teacher was out of reach.

Steeling himself for the humiliation, Sasuke dropped to his knees in a formal bow. "Jiraiya-sama, I want you to train me, and allow me to come with you on your journey with the do... Naruto." He was willing to be sealed to the Sannin's immediate vicinity if that's what it took.

Jiraiya rubbed at his chin thoughtfully for a moment, before shrugging and giving his answer. "No."

Sasuke's teeth ground together as his head snapped up, and for once he didn't care if he lost his mask of emotionless calm. "You're supposed to be the greatest of the Sannin. Iruka-sensei says that you trained the Yondaime."

"So I did," Jiraiya agreed, both of them ignoring Naruto's yelp. "You're still not coming," Jiraiya raised a hand before Sasuke could snap out the taunt that sprang up on his tongue. "Look, kid, Tsunade'd never agree to you walking out of the village with me. And, to be frank I don't want to deal with you and the other brat sniping at each other the entire time, or hauling you back every time we hear a hint about your brother being in the area, or my old teammate decides to try adding you to his collection of pretty boys again. We'll have enough targets painted on our backs without you adding more."

"I could be sealed to _you_," Sasuke said, struggling to drag his emotions back under control, even with the fury - not fear, never fear - that roiled in his gut. "And swear on the honor of my clan that I won't be taken by Sound if they look for us." He'd never bowed to anyone - not even the Hokage - and was swallowing the old man's insult hard enough to choke on it. And he was the better shinobi, damnit, there was no reason for Jiraiya to pass over him for _Naruto_. Naruto lucked his way through battle, or fell back on those random surges of red chakra he seemed to access.

Jiraiya stared down at him for a long moment before saying more. "I can deal with Orochimaru. But so can Kakashi and Tsunade. And there are things you need to learn in this village that you haven't yet. But hey, I'll be back, and maybe then you'll know why I didn't take you."

Sasuke pushed himself to his feet and his fingernails bit into his palms with the force he was clenching his fists at his side. They didn't have any right to keep him here, keep him weak, and keep him from his vengeance. They had no right, and they made no _sense_. Wasn't the village worse off without the Uchiha? The military police force was _gone_, an entire compound sat _empty_, and all the empty smiles and coddling comments of the villagers couldn't keep Itachi outside the walls.

Naruto looked confused, and torn, and Sasuke felt a spark of fury over it. He didn't need pity. He tensed, ready to tackle the other boy to the ground when Naruto looked like he was about to open his big mouth and try talking Jiraiya into agreement. That would _never _be acceptable. Sasuke had lowered himself all his pride was willing to take already in asking the Sannin for training. He wouldn't allow himself to become Naruto's charity case.

Jiraiya's massive hand landed on Naruto's spiky hair, interrupting the boy before he could say anything. Sasuke took the opportunity for distraction and forced himself into a mask of impassivity. He turned, when it looked like Jiraiya was going to say something - likely damnably _comforting_- put his back to the pair, and walked away. He ignored Naruto's shouted protest and the scuffling sounds of the idiot being restrained and likely dragged out of the village to his new training.

Embracing the roil of emotions, Sasuke let them fuel his speed until he was running and pushing fury-fueled chakra to his muscles to make the village blurr by. His ANBU minders weren't dogging his steps anymore, content to trust the Sannin's seals to cage and keep him. Sasuke was panting by the time the bustle of the village at mid-morning thinned out and morphed into the tattered silence of the Uchiha district.

The abandoned district sat along one of the perimeter walls, sequestered away from the rest of the village it belonged to. Or maybe didn't belong to. The thought slithered through Sasuke's mind as his headlong run stumbled into a dragging walk. He kept walking until the far side of the compound wall appeared, a faded and peeling uchiwa fan painted across it to tower over him in its shabby majesty. Sasuke slumped against the wall beneath the painted fan and let his head thump against the wood.

He wanted to leave. At that moment, he didn't care if it was with Jiraiya, Orochimaru, or Itachi himself. He just wanted out.

Sasuke rolled to his knees and pushed a palm against the wall, molding a bit of chakra and pushing it towards the wood. His eyes narrowed as the wood repelled him, his hand sliding along it like wet ice. The top stood above him at several times his height, but almost level with the roof of a house just across the footpath. Jiraiya's seals didn't leave him much chakra to work with, but it would be enough for this.

A leap and a grab and a short scurry of a climb brought Sasuke onto the roof, and he crouched there for a moment, judging the distance between himself and the top of the wall. He pushed off of the tiles and embraced the soaring freefall for a handful of seconds before landing on the top of the wall, balanced carefully on the balls of his feet, and without chakra.

Electricity sparked around him, a prickle of warning with how close he was to crossing the village boundary, and he saw the seals anchored at his wrist ignite into a steady glow. Sasuke clenched his hands and dropped them to his side, pointedly ignoring the seals as he stubbornly took another step, and jumped off the wall. He reinforced his legs with a bit more chakra as he landed on the forest loam, and smirked as he straightened before stepping past the shadow of Konoha's walls.

He'd kept control of Orochimaru's mark, and the staticky burn of Jiraiya's was also ignored. Binding seals that were tied to a specific place also had a specific range. All he had to do was make it past the boundaries of the seals before giving into them, and they should break, leaving him free to pursue his own strength and his vengeance.

The frisson of warning turned into a torrent of electricity, and the seals inked into his skin - not just the ones visibly painted, but long trails of characters running down and across his arms and glowing beneath his clothes - sparked into incandescence. Sasuke gritted his teeth and kept walking. He wanted to run, indulge in speed as well as pride at his freedom, but his feet were heavy and his body wasn't reacting well. Still, he kept going, crossing into shadows beneath the trees surrounding Konoha,and ignoring the ghostly light the burning seals cast against the leaves.

A pulse of chakra brought Sasuke to his knees and he felt chakra tear itself free of his skin. He tried to push himself back to his feet but knocked his head against a barrier. At the edge of his vision curved a shimmery dome of blue, one that bit into dirt below him,bisecting a scatter of hapless twigs and leaves. His vision tunnelled as the seals turned on him a final time, sending another pulse of lightning chakra through his body, locking his muscles and dropping him to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

* * *

**Kat's Rambles:**  
And thus ends the first arc of this story. The first arc of four, in fact. This next one will probably involve some Time Skippery to keep the narrative moving, but that's nothing new. Also, I think I end up with one scene I really like in each chapter. And a few I hated writing. Somehow, the ones I hate writing always seem to be Sasuke-centric. Sadly, he's not going away, so I'll get to continue to struggle with him. I wanted to grow as a writer, right? Right.

I've had a couple of questions about the pairings in this, so I guess I should probably just talk about them. Settle in, I guess.

First off, will there be yaoi or yuri pairings? No, there won't be unless it's in the form of something like an alternate-reality omake. And yes, I know Hinata and Sakura are all sorts of cuddly throughout this fic. They're like a pair of kittens, and they keep insisting. Girls tend to be more comfortable with casual touch than guys in my experience.

But really ... there won't be a lot of romance that's actually ... romancy. The main reason for this is that I'm not very good at writing romance or fluff, so I tend to stick to friendships and plot and happy endings. It's where I'm comfortable.

Will there be pairings, though? Yep! And they're all the ones I have a not-so-secret love for. And, since I know pairings can be a make or break for a lot of readers (myself included), if you want a rundown, just ask. They are nothing too wild and crazy, but I'm not going to write them out here because there's probably people who want to be unspoiled. Naruto/Hinata is happening. That one, at least, should be the obvious one. But really, I love talking to you guys, even if I'm kind of fail at answering reviews. So, if you have a question, please feel free to ask, and I'll answer it if I can.


End file.
